


A Test Of Faith

by catlikeacat



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:20:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 82,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catlikeacat/pseuds/catlikeacat
Summary: Judith was aware she’d been extensively “prepped” for this situation but now she found the idea of preparing for something this extreme laughable.You can talk all day about not being intimidated by the crowds, by the guns, by the barking dogs rattling against their cages and restrains. But once you’re there, living it, breathing it, taking in all the powerful waves of hatred and disdain… nothing can get you ready for that.And nothing, nothing, could have prepared her for the force of nature that is Faith Seed.





	1. Angel On His Shoulder

Judith was aware she’d been extensively “prepped” for this situation but now she found the idea of preparing for something this extreme laughable.

You can talk all day about not being intimidated by the crowds, by the guns, by the barking dogs rattling against their cages and restrains. But once you’re there, living it, breathing it, taking in all the powerful waves of hatred and disdain… nothing can get you ready for that.

Judith hadn’t been at this job this nearly long enough to be doing this, she thought. Keeping close to Pratt she felt Hudson’s hand on her shoulder. A silent nod. Support.

Sandwiched between them, Judith found some feeling of safety. Hudson was tough as nails, she’d seen some shit. There was nobody else Judith could ever want watching over her more. Pratt might not be the meanest or the strongest but he was easily her closest friend on the force. That was saying something, they were a tightly knit group.

Whitehorse walked ahead of them. Standing tall despite his own discomfort with this situation. Judith hoped she was half as cool headed and authoritative as him when she got to be his age.

Granted, she knew people already found her intimidating. Really didn’t think she’d ever have problems asserting her authority. She has a real confident vibe. Always ready to fight for what she wants and always ready to have a good time. Hell of a marksman too.

But this wasn’t a situation she could control.

She could hear accusatory screams from the crowd, vaguely held back by disinterested cult guards.

The gate loomed over them. A real, literal Eden’s Gate. However, there was no comfort in this. None of this promised land that Joseph Seed insisted was there.

Fear. It was all just fear.

Judith was already terrified of Joseph Seed and she hadn’t even laid eyes on him yet.

As they approached the church she could hear him though. Voice thundering through the walls of the building, odd barrels of green stuff outside only adding to the uncomfortable ambiance. She could feel Burke’s irritance next to her as they reached the door, stopped from barging in only by Whitehorse sternly reminding him, “If we’re doing this, we’re doing this my way.”

Judith had never been terribly fond of Burke. She’d never say it but he was an impulsive, hot-headed man. Didn’t hate him but he made her worry. Exactly the type to get injured in the field.

Whitehorse pushed the doors open and Judith got her first look at the infamous cult leader.

Joseph’s command of the room was absolute, none of the congregation even turned a head or batted an eye at the encroaching officers. All seeming to emanate that same strange green mist from the barrels outside. Like zombies they just stared forward. Only acknowledging them when Joseph himself did.

He blankly stared them down as they approached, proclaiming grandiose promises of God keeping him safe from the coming collapse. Surprisingly, he held his arms out obediently when they grew closer. Seemingly ready to be cuffed.

Somehow, that was more intimidating.

Lagging a bit behind the others, Judith looked around in a desperate bid to not stare directly at the man. As if he was the sun.

There seemed to be nothing remarkable about the “Peggies” sitting in the pews, other than the green mist surrounding them. If they were a higher rank than the rabble outside it certainly wasn’t visually evident.

Only three stood out and Judith had no doubt were the other Seed siblings.

Jacob Seed, the oldest. Notable for his bright red hair. The military uniform made sense as well, Judith was aware of his time spent overseas. Tough man, sternly glaring them down. A kindred spirit with Burke.

John “The Baptist” Seed. Well dressed, charismatic, a prototypical “motivation speaker” type. Judith's seen the videos. It looked like a life coach gone rouge.

The sister though… there was little information about her. Other than her name, Faith Seed. She looked out of place in this dreary, grim church. Her white dress was pristine, flowers over it. Looked about ethereal next to her brothers, almost seeming to hover as she cautiously regarded them.

Curiously enough, Judith noted the girl was walking around barefoot. Seemed like a poor idea.

But her attention was quickly jerked back up as she felt eyes boring into her skull. Their eyes locked. Faith unnaturally still as she stared intently into Judith’s eyes. Just as unknowable and mysterious as their dossier on her.

Judith almost felt like the woman was trying to communicate something to her wordlessly.

Message not received. Interrupted, really.

Whitehorse’s hand on her shoulder brought Judith out of the silent exchange, “Judith, did you hear me? Cuff him.”

Dazed, as if in a dream, Judith took the handcuffs hanging off her belt and raised them.

Joseph didn’t resist her putting them on at all but as she locked him in he locked his eyes into hers. Uncomfortably intense yet somehow completely blank. Eager to stop the man from looking at her, through her, any further she put a hand on his shoulder and started guiding him out of the church.

Unable to help herself she look one took back at his siblings. Jacob’s face pulled back into a snarl, hand on a sidearm. That alone made Judith not want to turn her head back. John’s rage seemed a bit more contained until you noticed his white knuckles balled into his pants. Condensed but not lesser.

But Faith… Faith looked almost serene.

Again, Joseph claimed that God wouldn’t let them take him.

Reaching up to touch each of her brother’s arms, Faith nodded. Lives up to her name, apparently. Her calm was fueled by the genuine belief that somehow, Joseph wasn’t going anywhere.

At her touch, John relaxed slightly but Jacob didn’t seem to care one way or another. Still glaring.

But as they reached the door, Judith was forced to look away. Thankfully, the door closed behind them without one of Jacob’s bullets aerating her skull. That would have been one hell of a way for God to stop them.

If walking in had been frightening, walking out was petrifying.

The hatred from the Peggies had doubled, tripled, quadrupled, at the sight of the intruders taking their beloved leader away.

More important than the intangible waves of hatred though was the cultists encroaching upon them.

While the armed guards were still holding back there were plenty of lesser cultists who were very obviously looking to take Joseph back by force. Vaguely held back by said guards, but they didn’t seem too fussed about stopping them. Probably wishing they could break orders and gun down Judith and her squad themselves.

Even Whitehorse’s calm cracked a bit, picking up the pace until they were nearly jogging to the helicopter.

Somehow, the most unnerving part of this all was Joseph’s utter calm demeanor. As they took him from the church, through the angry mob, into the helicopter. Even as it took off, Joseph just started quietly singing to himself. Amazing Grace. Easily the creepiest context Judith had ever heard it in.

Especially as they started having to kick and shoot attacking cultists as they tried to physically drag either them or Joseph out of the aircraft.

Freakishly enough, Joseph seemed not to care about the cultist nearly tugging his arm off.

But regardless they made it into the air.

Temporarily at least.

In no time the helicopter started failing, sending them spiralling back towards the earth.

Even as they started to crashed, Joseph looked serene. The last thing Judith saw before blacking out.

When Judith came back to the waking world she was still looking where he was. Keyword, was. His seat was empty.

Head swimming, Judith looked around to try and orient herself. Some were still here, some had already disappeared. But there was something much more alarming looking up at her.

Lying on her back, looking up at Judith dangling from her seat, was Faith.

Calm blue eyes still looking up at her, light brown hair encircling her head like a halo. White dress still pristine even as she laid on the dirt covered ceiling of the wrecked helicopter. Looking wildly out of place and for good reason. Why and how was she here?

“Amazing grace… how sweet, the sound…”

Faith’s singing sounded a million miles away but had Judith in rapt attention anyways.

Smiling, just slightly, she continued, “That saved… a wretch… like me…”

At that line Faith reached up towards Judith. Unflinching, she let her hand brush her cheek. Or rather, she was going to allow this. Instead, Judith watched the other woman disappear into a puff of green smoke the second they touched.

Oh good, a concussion. Judith definitely has a massive concussion.

A sudden scream about the “reaping” brought Judith back to the now as she looked over in horror at a now freed Joseph preaching to a crowd of incised Peggies, excitedly waving their guns overhead before turning to face the helicopter again.

Frantic clawing at her seatbelt, Judith managed to slam into the roof of the overturned helicopter. Scrambling away from the ensuing fire, explosions and gunshots in the nick of time as she started running through the wilderness of Montana. Alone. Pursued. Terrified.

Worst of all, Judith swore she could hear giggling echoing through the trees and the flash of a woman in a white dress in the distance.


	2. What Will Follow You

Judith kept running. Feet stumbling and twisting over the uncertain footing of the forest. Twigs snapping, rocks digging into her soles. She was certain that the cultists had lost her but at this point what else was she supposed to do?

Plus she was still here. Ghosting in and out of existence, Faith Seed calmly followed Judith every step. Disappear behind one tree, emerge from a bush above. Dancing ahead of her always. Silent.

Obviously, it wasn’t real. Part of Judith’s panic came from the crawling fear that she had a severe concussion. Bad enough to start hallucinating. But given her current conditions it’s not like she would exactly stop and head to a hospital.

Her foot caught a tree branch and send her sprawling into a clearing. A small building. Burke, beautiful Burke, her new favorite person.

“Judith!” he yelled, running over and hauling her up off her ass, “Jesus, you look like you saw a ghost.”

She did. Right over his shoulder. Taking long, elegant strides and looking her right in the eye.

Concussion or not, Judith felt like perhaps she shouldn’t alarm those around her until something can actually be done about it. She let Burke get her inside the trailer, “I… might as well have. Fuck, Burke, we’re in the thick of it. How are we supposed to get out of this place?”

As a bullet shattered a glass jar to the immediate right of Judith’s head, missing her by nary an inch Burke gave her an answer, “Fight our way out.”

Roughly she felt him shove a shotgun into her arms. Looking out at the encroaching Peggies, she nodded, “I’d rather not but if they don’t give us any other choice…”

“Don’t let them trick you into thinking we do,” Burke ordered as he slid the ammo into place, “You’ve gotta keep your head screwed tightly on your shoulders, Judy.”

Looking at the image of Faith still pursuing her, now stepping lightly into the trailer Judith knew that concept was already beyond her. Vacantly a canned snarky answer came out of her, “Don’t call me Judy, you know I hate that.”

“Hate being called that, hate being called just your last name. You’re too picky,” Burke grunted, before abruptly jerking up and expertly blasting a Peggie right between the eyes with a spray of blood, “Buck up, Judy, or you won’t live to bitch about your name again!”

Judith glared but got to work, loading the empty gun. Her eyes were taken away as a pale hand reached out and made her look up though. Or it would, were it not a ghost. Regardless Judith obediently tilted her head up to find herself face to face with the Faith hallucination. Speaking to her this time, “He’s wrong, you know. It doesn’t have to be this way, Judith.”

Something about hearing the hallucination speak her name made Judith’s heart bang around like a caged animal in her chest. Jerking around, she watched Faith disappear into a puff of smoke.

Not letting her addled mind put her in danger, Judith slunk out of the trailer to do what she did had to. Blast people to smithereens.

\- - -

Sitting in the rattling car as Burke sped down the shitty dirt road and left Judith with her own thoughts.

She’d gunned down about five men. Their blood and brains were splattered across her uniform and the images of their faces burned into her eyes. Just a bunch of poor fucking lackeys, told by Joseph to kill.

Burke noticed her frantic panting, even as she tried to suppress it. A firm hand on her shoulder, “It… it doesn’t get any easier but this is… part of the job. Usually not in this capacity, not like this. But a part of the job anyways.”

Judith could only shake her head but as she was about to reply another voice did even if Burke couldn’t hear it.

“It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Jerking her head up, the white clad figure on the bridge was unmistakable. Faith stood there confidently, stance wide and her hand up.

Not even being allowed a second for Judith to remember she was only a hallucination, she reached out and grabbed the steering wheel with a sharp, “Watch out!!”

Jerking it to the side, the car narrowly missed the vision of the woman in front of them.

A second later, Judith watched the bridge explode into a barrage of bombs as the car went over the side, into the water below.

For a frantic moment, Judith tried to pointlessly tell Burke to get out of the car but as it slammed into the water and filled up it was the obvious thing to do. Both of them jostled, separated, zombie-like in their pursuit for the shore.

The second her head hit sand Judith felt the world go black.

\- - -

“There’s hope for you yet, isn’t there?”

Judith watched the world flash like a strobe light as she blinked in the moonlight at the figure above her.

If she hadn’t had a concussion then she certainly had one now. Faith was sat on the darkened shore with her, hand ghosting over the side of Judith’s face.

Breathing shallow, Judith examined the hallucination’s face in the dim light. It was unnerving how perfect the replication was, each detail of Faith’s face stark and clear even illuminated in the pale moonlight. Judith’d never hallucinated before but she’d always assumed it would be like a dream. Foggy, unclear.

But every detail of Faith was here. So real that Judith felt phantom strokes as Faith’s hand traced the side of her jaw.

As Judith’s wild mind explored the possibility of this actually being the real Faith the woman leaned over to kiss her on the cheek before disappearing in a puff of green that obscured her vision.

Fake, of course.

Judith felt very real hands grab her under the arms and start dragging her as she lost consciousness again.

\- - -

Dutch. Nice weird old guy, Judith always had a fondness for that sort. Just like her grandpa had been. Would she ever seen her grandpa again? She sure hoped so.

Looking around, Judith realized she was in an underground bunker. Earlier briefing had told her and her crew that there were a doomsday preppers around Hope County. Dutch must be one. At least he was a friendly and nonthreatening prepper.

He led her to another room, gesturing for her to pick out some clothes before leaving. Disguise her, can’t exactly be walking around this place in her uniform.

Picking through there wasn’t much to choose from. Thankfully, Judith was a bit of a bulky, muscular woman so the clothes fit well enough. Hopefully she could get ahold of some others on the outside. Even if she was trapped in the valley, she was a woman who liked having a choice.

Pulling on the black and red plaid shirt, Judith looked at her reflection.

She’s always been just the smallest bit vain. In a bit of an odd way though, she was quite proud of how tough she looked. Part of why she’d ended up in law enforcement. Normally she liked a little more of an edge to her look. This would suffice for now though.

Could she pull off the open-plaid-shirt-sports-bra look? Leaving the shirt hanging open she knew she wasn’t going to but it was fun to play pretend.

Raking her short black hair into place, Judith placed the black cowboy hat on her head. Definitely liked that.

Looking closer, Judith examined her own face. She didn’t look dazed or out of it, maybe she didn’t have a concussion after all. Granted, that just left her with the option that she was just going crazy but that was a comfort compared to brain damage.

Can’t fix something physical, can just deal with something mental.

She jumped as her reflection disappeared, leaving her face to face with Faith.

Stumbling back, her foot caught on a stepstool and she slammed to the ground. Shuffling from outside the room, Dutch yelling through the door, “You alright in there?!”

The mirror version of Faith raised a finger to her lips as she nodded towards the door.

“Y-yeah, I’m all good Dutch. Just tripped over my pants.”

“Be careful in there, we don’t exactly have doctors on demand right now and I can only do so much.”

Looking back at Faith, Judith watched her turn her hand and curl a finger. Telling Judith to come closer. Surprising herself, Judith listened without question. Pushing herself up and walking up close enough to the mirror to whisper to it, “You’re… you’re not real.”

“I’m real,” Faith replied, “As real as I can be, in this sense at least. I wanted to talk to you.”

Fully aware that she was talking to herself, Judith kept her voice low, “Couldn’t you have done it without making me crash a car?”

“I saved you.”

“You… did.”

For a second Judith just saw Faith staring at her, benign but clearly expectant.

Catching her drift, Judith carefully answered, “T-thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Joseph has bigger plans for you, I couldn’t let you die. Our people were supposed to find you but I can only direct people outside my lands to a point. No guardian angels for me to send you. So I had to send myself.”

“I mean… you’re… you’re not here,” Judith tapped the glass, “Do you… control this?”

Gesturing down at herself, the vision claimed, “Yes, I am in control of this.”

“So, if I walked up to real life, physical Faith and said ‘remember our conversation in the mirror?’ she’d smile and nod.”

“Of course.”

Judith was understandably skeptical but carefully pursued an answer just in case this truly was real, “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“You’re different, Judith. I can feel it and the father can certainly feel it. You can still walk the path, you can still be saved. We want you to be saved.”

“Is it ‘we’ or ‘you’?”

“We. You could be a part of our family.”

Another knock on the door, Dutch calling out, “Are you… talkin’ to yourself in there? You didn’t hit your head too hard didja?”

Judith called out to him, “Sorry! Nervous habit. Don’t worry about it!”

“Alright, got some work for you when you’re done in there.”

Looking back at the reflection, Judith leaned in closer, “Look, this is crazy-”

Faith managed to silence her with just a raised hand, “The path to salvation is not always a straight line. Just know that I have faith in you.”

Was that a joke? Judith wasn’t sure if it was a joke. She chanced a nervous laugh and considering the coy smile on Faith’s face, she was pretty sure she’d guessed right.

One of Faith’s hands pointed downwards, at Judith’s still exposed chest with that same smile still twisting her mouth upwards, “You may wish to fix that before heading out.”

Looking down at her exposed bra, Judith quickly started buttoning it up with her face a bit red as she mumbled, “Could have pointed that out earlier.”

“I could have,” Faith nodded with a wink, poofing into that already familiar green mist that seemed to billow forth from the mirror.

Good. On top of general hallucinations Judith was now always having hallucinations that she was pretty sure just hit on her. God, she’d need to tread lightly should she ever actually be around the real life physical Faith. Judith had a good feeling that ‘hey I’ve been having weird fantasies about you’ would be a very bad way to start a conversation with the real thing.

Unless the hallucination was telling the truth and Faith WAS truly talking to her.

Shaking her head, Judith did the last button and headed out to Dutch.

\- - -

Dutch gave Judith a good rundown of Hope County as she ran the errands for him. It was a simple task to reclaim his small island back from the cult, even with Faith still following her from a distance.

Judith was turning over the words Faith had said to her. If this was to be believed as the true beliefs and intentions of Joseph and his family… was everyone having these visions? Were they also being told that the Seeds only wanted peace? That they could still be saved? These promises from Faith to be a family?

Something about other people being offered that made something in Judith twinge, a feeling like jealousy.

God, she really was going crazy, wasn’t she?

In a daze, Judith eventually found herself outside of the doors to the Whitetail Militia. Faith standing behind it with a serene yet still judgemental look on her face. Leaving Judith feeling weird and uncertain as she opened the doors and stepped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a while, hell of a writers' block this month! i seem to be through with it though


	3. Wild and Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so much longer than it should have, I've been feeling some major writer's block lately. That seems to have cleared up though, leaving my free to proceed with my lengthy sapphic retelling of Far Cry 5, like god intended.

Judith had to admit that the Whitetail Militia’s efforts were noble but she also thought they perhaps needed to step it up. Little more than a thorn in the Peggies’ side.

They made stabs at getting things back from the cultists but did little more than pick off a few handfuls of the invaders. Not enough to even take back a single outpost from them, not even for a little bit.

Well, if there’d been one part of her job Judith did well… well lets just say she’s good with a gun.

Didn’t exactly relish the idea of killing more people but there wasn’t really anything else she could do. People were in trouble here and these were the people causing said trouble. Judith had seen the bodies left in the wake of “conversion.” She couldn’t let that keep happening. If a bullet to the skull of a Peggie meant one less innocent person strung up and ripped apart… she would have to pull the lever on that real life rendition of the trolley problem.

The most surreal part of this unreal experience was the ghost of her enemies following her though.

Faith flickered in and out. Sometimes she was gone entirely, sometimes Judith could feel her creeping around, just capturing glimpses of her in the near distance, sometimes walking alongside Judith and talking to her.

Often idle information. Her birthday is April 5th. Her favorite color is baby blue. She hates shoes but if she has to, she’ll put on sandals. Her childhood dog’s name was Sunshine, he was a yellow lab.

It was such an odd thing, to know possibly false information about someone Judith knew all too well she should see as the enemy.

And yet, she found herself answering Faith’s mirrored questions. Why? She didn’t know. Boredom? Apathy? All she knew was she did.

Her birthday was October 18th. Her favorite color is candy apple red. She only wears practical footwear, never heels. Preferably boots. Her childhood dog was a pitbull named Chunks, they’d rescued him from the side of the road.

All the while Judith knew what she was doing was wildly unhinged but at this point… fuck it, might as well embrace her odd companion as something that’s clearly going to stay around. 

Some part of Judith felt concern about being in the same room as the real thing though. Would that happen? Was this real, would Faith greet her as a wayward travelling companion? Or is this all some fucked up concussion dream and would she find herself on the other end of a Peggie rifle while the real thing looked on scornfully?

And, of course, she knew how easily she gets attached to people. If this “Faith” turned out to be false...

People were always the problem for her. Easy to attach, hard to divorce her emotions from her logic. Should this be real, what should Judith herself do to Faith? Could she gun her down if the need arises?

Judith couldn’t really worry herself with that right now. She’d been given a list of names of people and creatures to help and she figured she’d grab one of the creatures first. One she’d actually seen before, when Hope County was in a better place.

Looming high above the trees was the massive, colorful statue. A bear, a cheeseburger, a distorted voice echoing above the area below.

Crouching on a hill, Judith looked through her scope at the cultists patrolling below. Following set paths, surely on Joseph’s orders. Should be easy to pick them off one by one without notice. She could see their alarms too. Knock those out first, no calls out. Less bloodshed.

First shot found its target perfectly. One alarm down. Creeping around, the second fell as easily. Third, down. No backup, no cultists any the wiser.

“That’s quite careful work, isn’t it?”

Judith didn’t flinch at Faith’s sudden words, right over her shoulder as she replied, “Reduced body count, I’m not here to slaughter mindlessly. I’m here to help.”

“People will still die though, you know.”

“People will die either way,” Judith looked up at her before her eye was to the scope, “Your people are killing too. Innocence isn’t something you can feign to me, Faith.”

“Why do these ones need to die though?” Faith questioned her, head tilted as she examined the unaware people in the distance.

“Got a list of important people and creatures to collect. They’ve got one of these creatures,” Judith held it up without looking away, tapping on the target’s underlined name.

“Cheese… burger?” Faith asked, admittedly a bit confused by the fuss. A local celebrity, to be sure, but not exactly something which she thought people should be dying over.

“Seemed like a good place to start,” Judith replied, aiming carefully at the guard outside, “Sometimes a symbol can be enough. Hard to miss a bear, let alone a famous one. Seeing him free will be a good omen.”

Before Faith could query further the silence shot ripped through the air and into the man’s head as he dropped dead to the ground. A second behind him falling a split second later, just as he saw his fallen brethren.

Bolting away, Faith wasn’t even able to flit after her fast enough as she thinned the herd below. Flicking through the high grass like a ghost before creeping down, pulling out a combat knife. For the stragglers hiding within.

That was when Faith left her. Silence as she finished out the last of the guards before alerting the resistance. It was almost alarming how quickly jubilant rednecks swarmed the area. All proclaiming her a hero as they ripped down Peggie flags and painted over their grim graffiti.

Cheeseburger was nowhere to be found but asking around yielded some answers.

Faith still was hidden away, nothing but the ghost of a ghost as Judith went to where Cheeseburger was sequestered. Making short, easy work of the Peggies guarding him. Bag of fish at her side to gain his friendship.

It wasn’t until her hand slipping into the pouch and pulled out a slimy strip of fish did Faith reappear. Sitting right in front of Cheeseburger, close enough to pet him should she truly be there.

“Was it worth it?” she accused, ghosting her hand over the sleeping bear’s head.

“It will be,” Judith replied, ignoring the shaking of her own hand as she approached both the slumbering ursine beast and the prying eyes of the cultist queen. Not quite sure which was throwing off her nerve more.

Oh god, it’s the bear, the bear is what is throwing it off.

Fear reared its head as Cheeseburger’s eyes blinked open and locked onto Judith. Pushing himself up, the thing was terrifying. Even as an apparition, Faith looked a bit nervous for Judith as Cheeseburger hauled himself up and shuffled towards the woman, inquisitively.

Tossing the fish out of pure instinct it landed between them with a wet slap.

Cheeseburger lumbered halfway to her, stopped, and lowered his head to start chowing down.

When his head rose again, he looked substantially friendlier as he closed the gap between them.

It didn’t stop the fear from coursing through Judith veins though as she reached up and experimentally pet the coarse hair on the bear’s head. Only when the beast demanded more, rubbing his head against her entire arm did she begin to stop running through every way she was going to die.

Admittedly eagerly, Judith gave the bear’s entire head and good scratching that made Cheeseburger let out a joyful noise. Like a bark from the world’s most terrifying dog.

Faith disappeared and reappeared over her shoulder, looking a bit impressed, “You’re good with animals, then?”

“I love animals,” Judith confessed, entranced with her hands still deep in a cheerful Cheeseburger’s fur, “My parents used to bring me to see Cheeseburger when I was young… it’s a drive, we’re not from this county, but I looked forward to it. I never thought I’d be standing here, literally petting him like a dog. It’s astounding.”

Faith peered curiously at this sight, a far cry from the woman she’d just watched single handedly take out a whole encampment. Much like the bear in front of her, Judith was a force of nature. Something to be feared, respected but… not a stranger to kindness.

Planting a kiss on Cheeseburger’s head, Judith returned to business mode though. Slipping her hand into her bag to drop another piece of fish as she walked. Cheeseburger obediently walking alongside her.

“Taking him back to his home?” Faith asked, curiosity puffing next to Judith as she walked.

“Of course,” Judith replied, dropping another piece every few feet, “Best to keep him safe in his home.”

“Don’t you think he’d make a good travel companion?”

Laughing, Judith looked over at her, “Well, I have you don’t I? Or are you planning to go somewhere?”

A smile, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“See? I have you. Better that Cheeseburger get home, get safe than travel around with me. Plus, I can see him in my downtime. Bring him a cheeseburger.”

“I believe they said he’s not supposed to have those, though.”

“He’s old, let the bear live. Also, cheeseburgers are my favorite and I’d always dreamed of splitting one with him. I was, uh, kind of a weird kid but all my little weird kid dreams can come true, apparently.”

“I… guess so.”

“Me too, so let’s get this big boy home.”

For a split second, while she walked flanked by the very real bear on her right and the very not real woman left, Judith realized exactly how mad the situation is. This is her life now, she supposed.


	4. Mouse In A Trap

You’d think with Faith lurking around that Judith would get used to weird shit happening to her but when that godforsaken “bliss bullet” nailed her it was a feeling beyond anything she’d been subjected to yet.

It’s effects magnified by the fact she didn’t see it coming at all. Whatever crew Jacob had no duty today was leagues beyond what he normally commanded. Elite, stealthy. Didn’t even know they were upon her until it was too late, laid out on the forest floor while green and sparkles flooded her distorted vision.

Helping the Whitetail Militia hadn’t had any major ramifications yet, she’d mostly been wandering around doing menial tasks for them and liberating points around the region. Destroying those fucking creepy wolf call things too.

Nothing had really come from the Seed family though, other than chastising words from the hallucination of Faith. Judith supposed it should have been obvious that worse would be coming. It’s not like the Peggies were going to just roll over and let Judith singlehanded reclaim the county.

Not to mention Judith had learned that if she should tire of Faith’s judgement she could merely touch her form and she’d puff away in a cloud of green smoke. Whatever that was, it would cause Faith to be gone for a while.

Although, when she returned, she was always mildly irritated about being banished. Not enough that she wouldn’t talk though.

Judith saw her one more time as the bliss bullet lodged itself into her arm.

\- - -

Blinking in and out of consciousness, Judith couldn’t do a damned thing about her capture.

Her mind should be wild but exhaustion and the drugs kept her from being able to truly react to anything. A mild fear lurked in her mind but without the ability to focus… it was just foggy and horrible like being waterboarded in a swamp.

She knew enough to know she was being dragged somewhere but not enough to know where. From forest floors to stern concrete to wooden floors, she was dragged limpy along.

The one thing was keeping her, probably stupidly, more sedated was the image of Faith trailing along after her. Walking as ethereal as ever, certainly not the real Faith. Especially as her bare feet seemed to be walking over sharp sticks and jagged rocks without a care.

Looking up at her, walking close enough nearly to be stepping on Judith’s legs dragging behind her, Judith could barely lift her head.

Dumbly, Judith muttered her name anyways. A muffled, “Faith?”

Nobody heard, nobody responded. Except for the illusion herself, looking down at her and slowly raising a finger to her lips. A silent shush. Disappearing in a puff of green smoke again that seemed to envelop her. Her world going green then black.

\- - -

Straps digging sharply into her wrists was what greeted Judith when she woke up.

Looking down, she was tugging at her restraints before she could even contemplate the situation. Mind shaking itself awake as she realized exactly the gravity of the situation.

Drugs or not, Judith had allowed Jacob to capture her. Hadn’t fought, hadn’t been careful. Even as she continued to tipsily faded in and out of the waking world, Judith was yelling at herself for her failure.

Looking around, Judith found there were several other chairs set up facing the projector screen ahead. She tried to remember anything she could about Jacob. Military man, Joseph’s favorite if their notes were to be believed. A fearsome man. In charge of the Peggie’s militia, opposite the very militia she’d been helping.

God help her, if she made it out of Hope County alive she better never heard the goddamn word “militia” again.

Judith could just barely hear people in the distance, rooms away. Stern male voices, she couldn’t help but wonder if one of them was Jacob. Surely she’d be meeting him soon. The Seeds certainly seemed like a real hands-on type cult, if everything she’d seen about them so far hadn’t been a ruse.

Speaking of things she’d seen so far, Judith jumped at the sudden appearance of Faith snaking around her from behind, on her right side, “Feeling alright?”

Judith’s response was remarkably calm, all things considered, “Do I look alright?”

“A little bit roughed up but I think you may still be a bit out of it from being sedated,” Faith replied, a twist of her hand sending tendrils of green floating around Judith’s face.

“Yeah that uh, stuff of yours? Kinda knocked me on my ass. Maybe not the biggest fan,” Judith felt more insane than ever as she snarked with her even under these circumstances, “Can I ask if this is the real Faith at least?”

“I’m always the real Faith,” the smallest smirk on her face.

“You know what I mean, Faith.”

Her answer was a puff of smoke, followed by Faith even closer right next to her left ear, whispering in it, “I’m real. In a sense.”

Judith’s hands balled into a fist in the restraints, cursing under her breath. Deep down, she’d been hoping it was the real Faith this time. A chance to escape, a plea to someone who may dream of actually helping her. A longshot but a shot nonetheless. Instead, the ghost still pursued her.

“Is the real Faith anywhere nearby?”

“I’m right here.”

“Physical Faith, a Faith I can touch.”

Were her hands real, Judith would have felt them slide down her arm and interlock their fingers but it was just a mockery of the real thing, “A Faith you can touch? Rather presumptuous of you to think I’m the sort of girl to do that on the first date.”

Flirting, now her hallucination is openly and directly flirting with her.

Judith chanced playing along, not as if that was a chore for her, “What, my rugged good looks not enough to make an exception just this once?”

Peeking her head around further, Faith looked downright victorious as her finger tapped the air over the restraints, “You like to gamble with a bad hand, don’t you?”

“You can get most anywhere if you bluff hard enough,” Judith nodded, “And take a risk or two. Any chance physical Faith’d like to give me a hand here?”

“Do you really think I’d help you escape my brother?”

“No, but I figured it would be worth it to ask.”

“Jacob only wants to help you,” Faith admonished, “I know my brother’s ways will seem harsh but at the end of the day, he wants to save you. Just like I do.”

“Funny way of showing it. Kidnapping and restraints and all. I’m a little more used to conservative dressed Mormons politely knocking on my door, trying to get me to come to their church.”

“You simply wouldn’t listen any other way, would you? What would you do when the Mormons knocked on your door?”

“To be honest, told ‘em I was gay and they’d immediately run away in terror.”

Politely muffled laughter, “Did you really? Well, I can assure you that the Father is much more accepting of things like that.”

“Shame, that was my plan of action when Jacob walks in through those doors.”

“Unfortunately, that won’t help you there either. Jacob is much more accepting as well.”

“Gotta admit, that’s a bit surprising. Whole macho man military persona and all.”

Faith traipsed slowly to the front of Judith, “I assure you, whatever judgments you have about my brother aren’t well founded. He’s a good person.”

Despite heavy and very accurate doubts, Judith replied a bit more civil, “How about you tell me a little bit about him then? What you know of him, not what intelligence we were given on him coming in here?”

Faith cringed a little at that, pacing back and forth. It seemed she didn’t like to reminded that Judith had been sent here on a mission. However, she answered, “Jacob can seem stern but he’s just seen a lot of loss in his life. Being separated from his family, enlisting, making friends only to lose them overseas. He’s only harsh because he doesn’t want anyone to be lost anymore. Including you.”

Man, did Judith want to roll her eyes at that statement. But she didn’t.

“I’ve heard he’s Joseph’s favorite,” came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

However, Faith seemed nonplussed by that statement, “He is, he is. The Father can be a bit austere sometimes, he likes to be around someone who understands him. Jacob does. A couple of serious men with an ironclad love and understanding of each other. A perfect bond of brotherhood.”

“How’s John feel about that one? Odd man out?”

“He… he is,” Faith replied, fingertips intertwined, “John’s a bit more of a flamboyant man. He likes a show, he likes the drama. Father cares about him certainly and so does Jacob but to pretend they understand him is a farce.”

“And you? What about you?”

“I’m… well, the Father enjoys having me at his side. I’m a good counsel, he says. Bright, cheery, sweet. I think he likes the contrast from his brothers. Jacob, Jacob’s protective. He doesn’t quite get me or what I do but he knows I’m useful.”

“What about you and John?”

“John… we’re close. We’re very close. In some way, we’re both… not quite the ‘black sheep’ but perhaps the ‘grey sheep.’ We’re different. We stick together. He’s an odd, flamboyant man, that’s for sure, but I appreciate it. He cares. He has passion. He can be a bit much but it’s just his way. Honestly, he’s become my best friend in the world.”

Judith had no idea how much she could take these testimonials to heart, how much bias had leaked into them, but something about having a first hand take on these men comforted her.

To a small degree, one almost squashed instantly as she heard the clomp of combat boots heading down the hall towards them.

“Jacob’s coming now,” Faith said without even looking back, “Promise me, you’ll listen to him. Let him help guide you to the word of the Father. Lead you… lead you to me. Hopefully I can see you again soon, hopefully in person.”

A peck on the cheek made Faith explode into green smoke around Judith, making her hazy and on the precipice of sleep as she watched Jacob walk in, two enforcers flanking him, carrying two more victims.

Blinking asleep, blinking awake, she watched Jacob illuminated only by the projector. Red images of predators lighting him up like the world’s most terrifying Christmas tree.

This was bad.

This was going to be bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! I actually did scare away some Mormons by saying I was gay once. Originally I was gonna have Judith's anti-Mormon measure be to slam a door in their face but decided adding a personal touch would be a bit funnier.


	5. A Captive Mind

Hand sailing through the apparition, exploding it into green smoke, Judith continued to stomp through the forest, “I told you to leave.”

Hightailing it away from the clearing where Judith had found herself dumped unceremoniously by Jacob or his lackeys after that… that… whatever the FUCK the guy had done to her.

Even now Judith had no words for that nightmare realm that Jacob has transported her to. What the fuck had it been? Was it more hallucinations? How much of it was real? Were those… were those real people or were they fake like the Faith facsimile following her around? They’d certainly exploded into smoke like she had, Judith could only hope that’s what they are.

But Pratt? Pratt had been real. She’d seen him, standing next to Jacob after tightening her restraints. “You shouldn’t have come for me.” How could she have not? He was her best friend. Is. Don’t talk about your friend in the past tense, not in these circumstances. You’ll jinx it.

He looked scared, he looked real fucking scared. Her best friend.

The second Judith had woken up Faith had been there.

Lying on the ground, looking up at her, it had certainly surprised the woman when Judith was instantly belligerent. Telling her to ‘fuck off’ and dispelling her instantly before taking off.

Judith didn’t exactly know why but Faith was able to come back faster than usual, questioning her with what seemed like genuine concern. But what was Judith gonna say? Hey, your brother’s a fucking freak and has my best friend, fuck off?

Although, in a perfect world, Judith would say that and Faith could have Pratt free by sundown. Or, rather sunrise, as the moon hung heavy in the sky above.

This wasn’t a perfect world though, it was a festering hellhole and it really wasn’t making Judith cotton to the idea of amicably chatting with Faith right now.

“Will you-” Faith appeared again before being poofed, recovering instantly about ten feet forward, looking haggard, “Can you please stop?! It’s hard to keep reforming like this! It’s giving me a headache.”

Sticking to her natural, more stoic state, Judith just stomped past her. Not seeing the relief on Faith’s face at not being banished again but feeling the presence following after her.

Behind her, carefully staying out of arm’s reach, Faith asked again, “What’s got into you?”

“Fuck, Faith, I feel like that should be obvious.”

“Look, Jacob’s methods are a bit different from my own but he cares ab-”

“Pratt.”

“Pratt?”

“Staci Pratt. My best friend. Jacob’s got him and I’ve never seen the dude worse for the wear. Not even when we were in academy together, living off cheap ramen and fast food. Looks like he saw a ghost and then said ghost beat the shit out of him.”

“Jacob’s only trying to-”

“I don’t care what he’s ‘trying’ to do, him and his freaky fucking brainwash bullshit can eat my ass.”

Judith didn’t pay any mind to Faith cringing at those abnormally crude words. She was far too used to the downright sterilized dialogue of the cult, words like “eat my ass” felt like alien gibberish by now.

Drifting next to her, Faith didn’t know what to say to that really but also knew disappearing now would only sever what little connection she had to Judith. Hands twisting behind her back, Faith made very sure to stay out of touching range. Not looking to get poofed again.

“I’m sorry.”

A weird placation.

But it made Judith look at her at least.

“No offense but what the hell am I supposed to do with an apology?”

“I… don’t know…” Faith looked away, “I just… I’ll go.”

Judith sighed as she watched the woman dissipate. Bliss pooling around her ankles like a shallow puddle of green.

Things were somehow even worse than she thought.

\- - -

Panting next to her, Judith looked down at her new companion.

She’d been heading towards the small town she’d been instructed to visit when she’d caught the radio call. A pumpkin farm in trouble.

Unfortunately, Judith had been too late to save the humans but when she’d smashed the lock on the cage at least she’d managed to save at least one life. Even if it was only a poor old dog, now with no family.

How could she not take him? Always did have a soft spot for rescues.

Apparently he was a bit of a local hero, same as Cheeseburger. But while Judith’s parents had driven her out to Hope County as a child to see the bear the dog hadn’t quite been around back then.

Scratching his wiry fur, Judith was glad for the companionship if not so happy about how she acquired it.

He wasn’t her only companion right now though.

Faith was keeping her distance, potentially even trying to not be seen but Judith knew she was there. Lurking on the edges of her peripheral.

Judith really had no idea what to do about that. Seeing all Jacob’s handiwork firsthand was even scarier than she’d thought it would be. A real wake up call, especially seeing Pratt there. Captured. Defeated.

But it wasn’t like Faith was going to go anywhere.

Obviously, Judith wasn’t buying into the whole ‘we’re here to help you’ narrative but the back and forth with Faith had at least been a distraction from the horrors going on around them.

Although, maybe a distraction was dangerous.

But god, did Judith want to be distracted.

As Fall’s End loomed ahead of her, she supposed that rescuing people can just be her distraction. Just… try not to think so hard about how you’re achieving that. About the strung up dead bodies. About the fact you’re only making more, albeit with less corpse desecration.

Not by much, she thought, as she crouched and took aim. Watching an unsuspecting man’s head burst like a grape, crushed under her heel. An explosion of blood and brains, splattering against the side of the man next to him. In some dark mercy, he wasn’t given the time to truly react to his friend’s brutal death before the same end found him.

Judith could feel Faith standing behind her, even though she didn’t say a word as Judith carefully and systematically took out every cultist wandering Fall’s End. An unseen killer.

As the last bullet shredded the final cultist, the town burst to life.

It seemed like people crawled out of every nook and cranny. Watching from above, Judith saw them quickly get to work. Ripping down Peggie banners, beginning to scrub at the graffiti, dragging away the mangled corpses.

Looking up, at eye level, Judith’s attention snagged on the priest standing on the roof next to her. Ripping down a Peggie flag he threw it down to the ground in disdain, spitting on it. His head jerked up and his eyes snapped into place with Judith’s.

With a nod towards the bar below, Judith found herself accepted as their savior.

When she turned around to climb back off the rooftops though, she found herself staring at a silent, inquisitive Faith.

“So you’re just going to hang around no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Judith groaned.

“Saving someone isn’t all about the fun parts, you know.”

“I just added about thirty more required therapy sessions liberating this town, you think I don’t know that?”

Huffing quietly, Faith looked down at the carnage below, “All of this could have been avoided, you know.”

“Could have been avoided if your people didn’t invade this land too, Faith.”

“But we’re just here to-”

“Help. You can say that all your want but I’m just… look, you’re not. You’re killing people, you’re imprisoning people-”

“What if I could get your friend out?”

Distrust was evident on Judith’s face, “Somehow, I don’t think your brother’s just gonna cheerfully hand him over.”

Fidgeting with a loose flower on her dress, Faith didn’t exactly look like she had a tremendously lot of belief in her success either, “Would it mean anything to you if I at least tried?”

Judith looked down below again. Eyes scanning the road below them, littered with townsfolk cleaning up the street. An empty gesture was better than no doing none at all, Judith supposed.

Sighing, Judith walked around Faith. A small gesture but one that was at least clearly non-hostile.

Should Judith have seen Faith’s face, she would have seen her ghost of a smile.

\- - -

Faith wasn’t leaving this time, the ghost of her perched on a bar stool and watching Judith meeting the townsfolk. That lack of rejection, not poofing her. She could sense that deep down, Judith couldn’t hold a grudge for something that Faith herself didn’t do. Thinking of ways to win her over again, Faith saw Mary May and Jerome sit down at the bar with her and lay out the situation.

Jerome suggested Judith head south and meet Nick Rye to which she agreed. Ignoring Faith’s judgemental look lurking just out of sight.

Hoping this would be over soon, Faith wished to continue their chat from earlier. Racking up quiet ways to try and get Judith to soften up to her again. Placations and, well, flirting. That last one seemed to work quite well.

Were Judith’s newfound friends able to see and hear Faith they’d claim it soulless manipulation.

But only Judith could interact with her in any way.

So all they had to do was leave. When Judith left and started heading south they could talk. Faith could spill a waterfall of promises over her. Of the freedom for her friend, of what they could be together, of what the Father could do for her. 

But instead, Judith let Mary May offer her a complimentary beer with a wink and a playful, “Just a little gift for our hero.”

“Huh, so I’m getting the hero treatment now? I could get used to that.”

Cracking off the top of another, she watched Mary May take a swig herself, “We could get used to having someone as powerful as you wandering around. You’re exactly what Hope County needed so as far as I’m concerned… well, it’s all on the house. You’re welcome here as often and long as you want.”

“Bad company ruins good morals,” Judith heard Faith hiss next to her, her first words in a while. 

With a tilt of it toward Mary May, Judith winked despite the ‘tch’ of disgust beside her, “Sounds like you personally wouldn’t mind me being around.”

“And it sounds like you’re pretty used to people wanting you around,” Mary May tapped her fingers on the bottle, knowing glance unignorable, “Bet you’ve always been popular. Especially with the ladies, huh?

A huff to the right, Judith stole a peek over at Faith who seemed less than impressed by this turn in the conversation. Arms crossed and eyeballing the door. Flicking her eyes to Judith and back. A bid to leave.

But Judith couldn’t exactly be constantly obeying the demands of a functionally invisible woman, answering Mary May, “You could say that. Always seem to have a girl or two following me around.”

“I’m sure you do,” she laughed, setting down the drink and leaning on the counter with a leery gaze, “I suppose the real question then is are you chasing any of those girls back?”

Unable to look over at her, she could just imagine the judgemental look twisting Faith’s face. Waiting for an answer that she hoped wouldn’t disappoint her.

“There might be someone, if she plays her cards right.”

A small mistake. Faith fluffing up in rage as Mary May quickly misunderstood that statement. Leaning further over the counter, grinning widely, “Well, well, well, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Judith stiffly raised her beer, not even having to look over to know Faith was enraged as she poofed out of existence and left a flood of green smoke in her wake, “I’d love to stay but I should go and meet that Nick guy as soon as I can.”

“Alright, Deputy, don’t be a stranger.”

\- - -

“What a simple woman, obviously you didn’t mean her...” Faith muttered, more of a threatening statement than a question as she reformed in front of Judith as she walked out the town.

“Huh, didn’t know that green smoke of yours stood for envy…” Judith replied, pulling out her map to locate Rye and Sons.

“I know my sins,” Faith tapped a finger cryptically on her sternum, “Even the holiest of us have our demons, even the Father knows of his sins.”

“You callin’ yourself the holiest of us? Might have ‘pride’ too.”

Hand rubbing at the back of her shoulder, Faith sighed, “I know what I am…”

“Well, what I need you to be is a friend,” Judith replied, sliding into the driver’s seat of an abandoned Peggie car, “I’m… gonna give you a chance. I don’t really have a lot of, well, faith in your ability to get Pratt out of there but I need you to promise me you’ll at least try.”

Smiling, she nodded, “I will!”

“You better. If I find out otherwise, all this pleasantry is over, alright?”

“I will, I will, I promise.”

Nodding, Judith pressed down harder on the pedal as they sped towards their goal without feeling any better, really. Not helping that even now she had no concrete evidence that this was even a genuine connection to the real Faith.

But she supposed this was all she could do or say in these circumstances.


	6. Familial Ties That Bind

God, there was something utterly disconcerting about seeing a very, very pregnant and very, very angry woman in the heart of Peggie country. Nick really hadn’t been kidding when he’d said she was going to be popping that baby out any second.

Even Faith looked curious as they entered the building, for once tearing her attention away from Judith to examine the once mysterious Kim as she tugged a suitcase out of her husband’s hands as she argued the case for staying.

Frankly, Judith was on Nick’s side. There was nothing she wanted more was to see this woman climb up into that plane and get the fuck out of dodge. Well, maybe not the thing she wanted the most but what she wanted the most to happen right now that reasonably could. This wasn’t exactly a good place for a family to be growing.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think leaving is the worst idea,” Judith pointed over her shoulder at the plane outside, freshly rescued by herself from John’s ranch.

Kim wasn’t taking shit from Judith either, jabbing a finger into her shoulder, “Hey, you may be a boss out there but I’m the boss in here. This is MY house and MY land. Nobody’s taking that from me. Not the Peggies, not my husband, not you.”

Hands up, Judith hoped she wouldn’t be jabbed again, Kim was strong as fuck, “Alright! Alright! Backing down!”

“Damn right you are but you know who isn’t?” Kim replied, tugging on her husband’s shirt, “Us. We’re not backing down. We’re staying, Nick, and that’s final.”

Nick looked at Judith for support but found no purchase. Unseen by the Ryes, Faith spoke to Judith with her hand hovering over Kim’s shoulder, “Of course, if they stayed… well, I imagine I could talk John into making them my jurisdiction. Keep them safe. If you’d like to be my proxy…”

Of course, Judith absolutely wasn’t going to do that. Ignoring Faith’s slight annoyance at lack of compliance, “Well… if you guys are staying… look, I know I’m going to be busy but… well, I guess I have to keep an eye out for you guys now, don’t I?”

“You better,” Kim replied, at least half joking, “Considering you’re a cop and all. Our only law enforcement right now, until you get your friends back. I heard the Seeds got ‘em. I know I’ve got a lot less I can do to help you than you can for me but… well, if there’s anything I can contribute to that effort, I will. Take my husband, he’s pretty useful.”

“Pretty useful?” Nick lamented, “That all you got about me?”

“Fine, fine, take my very handsome and talented husband whom I love. He’s pretty useful.”

“That’s more like it,” Nick beamed, perfectly content with the slightly sarcastic compliments.

“I’ll take you up on that,” Judith replied, “I’m sure there’s gonna be plenty of times where it’d help to have an eye in the sky. Just the sky though. You should, uh, probably not be running around on the ground as much as possible. Don’t want little…”

She gestured vaguely at Kim’s stomach only to have Nick pep up, “Nick Jr.!”

“Nick, the baby is a girl.”

“Nicole! Nickname: Nick Jr.! Irrelevant, we’re havin’ a boy.”

Kim looked exasperated at Judith, “Ultrasound. It’s a girl. Subject change, I’m making porkchops, you want some?”

Free beer, free porkchops, what more could a girl want in a day? Judith nodded, “God, yes please. I’m starving.”

“Least I can do for your help, you two watch TV out here while I get things ready.”

“You want he-”

“Nick, last time you helped the food ended up on the ground.”

“Duly noted. Have a seat, I’ll be back in a tick.”

Collapsing into the soft sofa, Judith let herself sink in with a sigh. Her first real moment of rest since she got here, she could live on this sofa if the Ryes would let her. Closing her eyes, she bid herself to not fall asleep.

“I think this is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen you.”

Judith nodded, chancing a response that easily could be her talking to herself in a not-crazy way, “God, I could pass out right now. This couch is my new favorite thing, forever.”

Faith giggled, very close to Judith’s ear, “I kind of like seeing you like this. You’re cute when you’re tired.”

Cracking an eye open, Judith could see the illusion as close to her face as physically possible, “Am I now? Even cuter when I first wake up.”

“What’d you say, partner?” Nick replied, startling her upright as the sudden weight nearly knocked her over as he jumped over the back of the couch, landing right next to her. To her delight, there was a six pack dangling from his hand.

“Sorry, got a tendency to talk to myself,” Judith lied, sitting up and happily accepting a can, “Never anything consequential. Just daydreams escaping out my mouth.”

“Can’t blame you,” Nick cracked his open, nodding, “I think we’d all like to be picturin’ something better. Perfect world you woulda hauled that crazy sonuvabitch out of here and that cult would just… poof.”

“We’re not a cul-” Faith started before, ironically, being poofed by a twitch of Judith’s hand.

Judith leaned her head back again, “You’d be making up a baby room, arguing over names, dreaming of what she’ll be when she gets older-”

“He’ll be a pilot, just like his old man,” Nick cut her off, nothing but pride in his voice for his non-existent son, “What’d you be doin’? What does a deputy do on their day off? Shine their badge?”

“I’d be in my apartment with Pratt, probably eating really shitty Chinese takeout and watching a buddy cop movie.”

“Pratt, that’s the guy Jacob’s got his mitts on?”

“Yeah. Best friend. Kind of a shithead but really wish he wasn’t with that psycho.”

Judith ignored Faith reappearing on Nick’s other side, annoyed, “He’s not a psyc-”

As Nick’s hand absentmindedly and accidentally poofed the apparition of Faith, Judith had to crush down laughter as he replied, “Hey, don’t worry, we’re gonna get that son’bitch and rescue your friend, alright? I mean, I ain’t much use up by Jacob with the mountains an’ the trees an’ all but there’s gonna be plenty of folks around here looking to kick some Peggie ass.”

“Any suggestions for up there?”

“Jess Black. Sneaky, angry, loves the wilderness.”

“Oh good, he wants you to pick up an overgrown feral child,” Judith heard Faith behind her, sounding a bit exasperated. That was probably from the repeated poofings. Judith still remembered her claims that it gives her a headache, another nod at the real Faith being behind this.

“Sounds good,” Judith ignored those thoughts and responded to the man in front of her with a swig, “I get the feeling I’m going to need a lot more help going forward.”

“You wouldn’t need any other help if you’d just accept mine and the Fathers,” Faith quipped from next to her. Man, it was a really good thing Nick couldn’t see or hear her little shoulder angel.

But before this could go on any longer, they heard Kim call out to them, “Dinners ready, get in here before it gets cold!”

\- - -

Man, if Judith had been enamored with collapsing on the couch, she was ready to marry the damn bed.

A handmade quilt, more pillows than she could begin to know what to do with, extra blankets out the wazoo. The Rye family was well on their way to becoming her favorite family ever. Aside from her own, of course.

Bundled up like a happy little caterpillar, ready to become a butterfly, Judith wondered how she could subtly get herself into this situation more. Kim’d been the one to suggest she stay the night, maybe she needs to get the woman’s number and start texting.

Who is she kidding? Nobody texts here and it’s not like their phones are working right now.

It’s a small county though, can always just just drive over… make an excuse… 

Maybe other people she’d meet would be willing to let her crash at their houses too. Judith figured her only other choices were “sleep in a stolen car” or “crash in the Whitetail Militia bunks.” Car’s dangerous and the bunks… well, Judith’s never been a fan of sharing a room with three other people.

“What are you thinking about?”

Well, looking over to Faith lying on her side next to her on the bed, Judith could think of a few dirty things she could answer with. But she could tell enough about Faith to know she probably wouldn’t appreciate such dirty quips, “Just kinda weird seeing a normal family in the middle of all this.”

“Me and my brothers are a normal family.”

“I met Joseph tits first after walking through a compound full of people and animals that wanted to kill me to keep him safe.”

“You’re killing people to keep your family safe too.”

“Faith, your brothers are the one MAKING my family unsafe.”

She didn’t have a good answer to that, sighing and rolling onto her stomach to smile instead, “I’d like to know a bit more about you. What about your flesh and blood family? Do you live by them?”

“Nah, they’re living a good few hours drive away. We’re reasonably close but I wanted to feel a bit more independant and there’s only so many places in Montana you can live where there’s people.”

“And as long as you have your friends, you’re fine?”

“Yep. Went to police academy, met Pratt, joined the force, met Hudson, Burke and Whitehorse, got picked to come out here and, well, you know what’s happened since then. That’s enough people for me.”

“I’ve been the opposite, I’ve never really left Hope County in my life. Never saw a reason to. By the way, you always use your friend’s last names, do you use them when you’re together with them?”

“Burke and Whitehorse, yeah, got introduced that way. Pratt and Hudson not so much when we’re hanging out off the clock but at work, also yeah. Also, those are the names people are going to recognize also everyone gets confused about the whole ‘Staci’ and ‘Joey’ thing. Sure as hell got me the first time.”

“Sounds like there’s a bit of a story there,” Faith asked, peeping up at her with a smile, “Got them confused?”

“In the worst way. Didn’t catch their names when I met them, used that trick where you just get them to enter their own names into your phone and just… sussing out which is which as the only new names in said phone. Assumed, I feel reasonably, that Staci was the girl and Joey was the boy. Was trying to send flirty texts to a cute girl, instead ended up sending them to a poor, unsuspecting dude. Thought I was inviting her over for dinner and he showed up smiling on my doorstep with flowers.”

“And now he’s your best friend? How’d you turn that around?”

“Well, not elegantly at the start considering the first words out of my mouth were ‘what are you doing here?’”

The mirthful look on Faith’s face didn’t match her words, “Oh no, ‘what are you doing here?’ What a cold thing to drop on the poor boy.”

“Sure fucking was, never seen someone’s face drop so hard and fast. I felt terrible. A couple awkward explanations later, figure out I WAS texting ‘Staci’, ‘Staci’ just wasn’t the person I thought they were.”

Swinging her legs, Faith still looked cruelly amused, “And what’d you do then? Tell him to leave?”

“No, no, decided, fuck it, I already stepped on his poor bastard’s heart. We ate the dinner I made on the couch and watched bad comedy movies all night. He ended up sleeping over kinda, he just passed out on my couch and I didn’t have the heart to wake him up and kick him out. Honestly, became a pretty regular occurance until he just sorta… ended up my roommate.”

Face souring a bit, Faith side-eyed her, “You… live with someone?”

Judith laughed, rolling onto her side to look at Faith a bit better, “Is there going to be a single person in my life you’re not going to be jealous of?”

Faith eyeballed her carefully, “Well, at least you only like girls, right? I mean, like the story about the Mormons-”

“Well, I kinda say ‘gay’ as a colloquialism but, uh, I guess I’m best described as mostly girls, sometimes guys.”

“And you live with a guy,” Faith accused, looking annoyed.

“Wow, I’ve never had a girl get possessive of me before we even start dating. You’re setting some real records here,” Judith laughed.

“I just like to know about anything I should be concerned about.”

“Well, I’ll have you know, I’m a VERY loyal girlfriend,” Judith tapped her own chest, “You’ve got nothing to worry about from me. I’m only out flirting and stealing hearts when I’m single, I take things seriously when I’m actually with someone.”

“So, if you’re so loyal and serious... “ Faith flicked her eyes towards the door, to the rest of the Rye house, “Are you looking to start a family eventually?”

“Jesus, Faith, first you’re already wildly possessive and now you’re asking me about popping out babies? As far as I’m concerned, you’re still just a concussion based hallucination and I’m gonna meet the real Faith one day and have her be like ‘who the hell are you?’”

Faith seemed unconcerned about that, batting her eyes up at Judith, “You’re dodging the question.”

“Maybe. I could see myself having a family somewhere down the line but I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to be full of babies. You on the other hand...”

“The Father encourages us to be fruitful and-”

“Oh man is that sentence creepy, please don’t finish that sentence.”

“What? How is the family supposed to get bigger if we don’t have children? He’s not advocating for like… sister wives or anything. Just nice, normal families, like the one he never got to have. Especially for me and John since we’re the young ones, I think he feels like he and Jacob are too old.”

“Is that why you’re chasing after me? Hate to break it to you but we’d have a few hurdles to get over on the path of ‘acquiring children’ if we were together. Either adoption or artificial insemination,” Judith patted her own stomach before raising a finger at an eager Faith ready to speak, “I don’t know who you’re going to suggest but don’t, I assure you my answer is ‘I’m not putting that dude’s baby inside me.’”

“But J-’

“Don’t want to know which ‘J’ name you’re thinking of.”

Faith looked offended at that, “Those are my brothers you’re insulting, you know.”

Judith didn’t exactly have a nice way to say ‘your brothers run a cult and so do you’ so she just tried to divert, “And do these brothers even know you’re out here, talking to me all the time?”

“They… know I’m talking to you, I’m supposed to,” Faith carefully replied, a twitch of her lip betraying-

“They don’t know you’re coming onto me, do they?”

Instantly Faith looked guilty, “No, they don’t. Except for one.”

“Which one?” Judith perked up, pushing herself up on her elbows. If a brother knew… well, Judith felt she could reasonably assume she wouldn’t be meeting them as a hallucination. Could get real world verification that this is the real Faith she’s talking to, somehow. Although, how exactly do you bring that up…

Regardless it didn’t matter as Faith just raised a finger to her lips, winked, and poofed out of existence.

Leaving Judith with her thoughts, even if only for a minute before she drifted off. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Her dreams didn’t comfort her and the amount of Faith still plaguing her left her concerned if the woman could invade her very dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAN am I experiencing some difficulty churning out writing like I used to but I'm happy with how this chapter came out and it's a longer one. Hope to get back to turning out stories like nobody's business soon.
> 
> I've also been developing Judith a lot more outside of this fic, I've had to change some small bits in the previous chapters but nothing too major. Just things like dropped the description of Judith being "stoic" and I've opted for the slight canon divergence of "Deputy, not Junior Deputy" so removed Burke calling her 'Rook.' Just changed my mind about some facts about her as I worked on it.


	7. Oh, Brother

The next day, Judith woke up to the smell of sausage AND bacon frying. Briefly contemplating the merits of becoming a Rye family Sister Wife sheerly for the delight of staying here she pushed herself up to get ready.

Looking in her bag she found a meager three outfits. The red plaid shirt and cargo pants from Dutch, a rancher looking outfit she’d picked up at a shop, and her deputy uniform. She’d just barely convinced Dutch not to destroy it which turned out to be a good thing because literally everyone knew she was one of the deputies anyways.

Smoothing down the ‘Redfox’ name tag, she’d even convinced Dutch to help stitch that down. It had nearly gotten ripped off in the helicopter crash. Or the chase through the woods. Or the fight with the Peggies. Or the car crash. She didn’t exactly know it had gotten damaged.

Eventually she settled on the rancher outfit, might as well dress like she’s at home while she eats breakfast.

She didn’t know if it was more of a relief that Faith wasn’t there or if it would have been if she was. The woman always seemed to leave her with more questions every time but she admittedly liked the attention.

But this time, the concern of “what brother knows” loomed over her mind.

A nice distraction came in the form of Kim coming at her with a plate of food the second she sat down at the table. All but drooling, Judith eyeballed the display hungrily, “So, where do I sign up to live here forever?”

“You’re not allowed to live in this house permanently unless you’re my baby or the person who caused said baby,” Kim laughed, handing the second to said person.

“Hey, first off, my family house, second off, you lived here with me for YEARS before the baby.”

“It was all temporary, I was gonna take the house in the divorce but you saddled me with ‘Nick Jr.’”

“Hey, that’s the first time you’ve called ‘im by his name!” Nick looked damn proud of himself.

Rolling her eyes, Kim leaned in to whisper to Judith, “Wait until I tell him I’m alright with naming her Nicole. He’s gonna lose his shit. Might as well, he’s gonna call her ‘Nick Jr.’ either way. Don’t want to confuse the kid.”

“What’d’ya think you’re gonna focus on today, Judy?” Nick asked through a mouthful of food, ignoring the flecks on the tablet in front of him.

“Judith,” she corrected, “Gonna head back up into Jacob’s territory. Go find that Jess chick you talked about yesterday, see if I can get her on my side. I’d appreciate another stealthy person on my side, I want to take down these Peggies but… well, I’m not a kill ‘em all type.”

“Respectable, better’n I can claim to be,” Nick replied, tapping the fork on his plate, “If it was up to me I’d just kill ‘em all. Suppose that’s maybe not the Christian way to be, is it?”

In her head, Judith’s answer was a staunch ‘fucked if I know.’ With little but second hand knowledge of Christianity she always found herself just dumbly nodding and smiling whenever people brought it up. Doing exactly that, she bullshitted, “Maybe not. Either way, I’d rather avoid killing half the population of the very place I’m supposed to be protecting.”

Judith jumped suddenly at the pale arms ‘wrapping’ around her shoulders, hands extended and fingers interlaced, “I like hearing you say that.”

Of course, from the Rye’s perspective, Judith just freaked out for no reason. Unable to see the ghost of a cult leader hovering happily around their friend. Kim’s head tilting as she asked, “Are you alright?”

Grabbing her side, Judith gave a pained smile, “Just got a cramp in my side all of a sudden. Been flexing a lot of weird muscles these past few days.”

“Well, you be careful, you’re gonna be getting even more of that up in Jacob’s region. Mountain climbing and all. You want Nick to follow you up in his plane?” Kim offered, “Trees and rocks make it hard but he’s got plenty of experience if you think you’ll really need him, at least until you can get some ground support.”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Judith shook her head, pushing herself up as Faith walked around the table to curiously examine Nick and his wife, “I’ll definitely call you next time I’m in Holland Valley though. So many planes flying around here, it’d be nice to have at least one of them on my side.”

“I’ll be lookin’ forward to it, partner,” Nick replied, “Good luck findin’ Jess.”

Judith tipped her cowgirl hat in response with a grin, “Thanks, I’ll come back to see you two soon.”

\- - -

Faith walked backwards in front of Judith as she started going on foot towards the looming mountains, “I knew you were a good person, the Father wouldn’t have wanted to save someone not worth it.”

“What, all this praise over not wanting to kill dozens and dozens of people?” Judith laughed, “Man, wait until you hear that I became a cop because I love protecting people. Make you weak in the knees.”

“I figured as much,” Faith beamed at her, “Even people who don’t deserve your help, you give it to them. Very noble.”

That was clearly a jab at Judith’s choice to pursue Jess but she shrugged it off, “Well, I like to think I’m a pretty good person. Relatively, at least.”

“I think you’re a very good person,” Faith slowed her pace to let Judith walk a bit slower, “My family just wants to help you use that. Help us, help everyone else. Even if you’re resisting letting us show you that, I like to think you’ll see it our way one day.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Judith couldn’t stop the slightly rude comment from coming out of her.

Stopping dead in her track at Faith raising her hands and holding them in front of Judith, a serene smile on her face, “Don’t worry, I have faith in it at least. That’s my name, after all, isn’t it? You just need to spend a little more time with my brothers, I’m sure you’ll love them once you get to know them.”

“And which one, exactly, is the one who knows about you talking to me?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.”

Before Judith could reply to that she heard a man’s voice yell behind her, “There she is, there’s the deputy!”

With a sudden sharp pain her back, Judith felt her vision blur as she fell forward and landed at Faith’s feet. Blinking once, twice, then the world going black.

\- - -

Water lapping against her feet, Judith’s head was still spinning when she came to again.

Judith had a feeling by the time all this was over she was really going to be sick of being kidnapped.

Dropping her head to the side, she could see a small area set up. The Eden’s Gate crosses stuck into the ground, white cloth draped in the trees. A few Peggies with a small group of captive civilians.

Said people were either being shoved head first into the shallows or being dragged into about waist deep waters to be dunked.

Judith had a feeling the ones being nearly drowned were the ones who’d not cooperated.

She internally debated whether she should play nice if only not to get the worse treatment when she felt a foot on her arm.

Pressing down, Judith was kicked over from being on her side to being on her back. Looking up blankly at John Seed himself, the look on his face absolutely indiscernible. Best she could tell, half amused, half annoyed. Either way, his supposed smile wasn’t extending to his eyes in the least.

Dropping down into a squat, he jabbed at her shoulder with his finger. Testing how awake she was, she figured. He seemed satisfied with how conscious she was grabbing her by the front of her leather jacket and jerking her to her feet.

Obliging, because she was still too groggy to fight and her arms were tied tightly in front of her, Judith stumbled up awkwardly.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the deputy,” John grinned coldly at her, “I’ve heard so much about you. You’re really causing me and mine some problems, aren’t you?”

Bidding herself to be a bit more coherent, Judith replied barely slurred, “Had to hear some good things, right? Or all bad?”

He seemed happy that she was willing to chat at least, pulling her slowly towards the water with that same eerie smile on his face, “Depends on who I’m talking to. You’re a divisive person, surely you know that? People either love you or hate you, one side or the other. Like Moses parting the Red Sea.”

Judith had only a foggy idea of who “Moses” was but she clearly knew that she didn’t like that she was now ankle deep in water, “Didn’t know enough people were talking about me to have a public opinion.”

“Oh, are you kidding? I’d kill to have the amount of attention you’re getting,” John jerked her a bit more violently, painfully twisting her ankle as she misstepped and stumbled into the deeper water.

Despite the pain in her leg, Judith cracked a joke as she awkwardly straightened up again, “Hopefully not literally.”

“No, unfortunately Joseph wants you alive and what the Father wants, the Father gets.”

“So, I’m taking it so far you’re on the side of people that hates me then?”

“Yet to be seen, yet to be seen, even my own family is split on you” he chirped, seeming a bit cheerier now that they were in the waist deep water. Looking around, they were fairly far away from the others. Even though Faith was an illusion and even if she WAS here that John probably wouldn’t be seeing her too, Judith found herself kind of wishing she was.

But she wasn’t, it was just her and a guy who was radiating pure anger despite the forced smile on his face. Regardless of his statement about not having an opinion on her yet, he was still gripping her jacket like he wanted to strangle her to death and was in quite a good position to do just that.

“Well, if it helps, I’m gonna say that the ones talking nice about me are the ones who are right,” Judith awkwardly tried to joke her way out of the imminent, “Whichever one of your siblings is on my side, that is.”

“Oh, I think you know which one likes you,” John sneered. Before the implications of what could even begin to touch Judith’s mind, he shoved her as roughly into the frigid water. Instantly she swallowed a huge mouthful, thrashing against his grip as he held her under easily.

As abruptly as she’d been dunked she was jerked back up. Coughing water out while John hissed at her, fake smile gone from his face, “What’s your game, deputy? You trying to take our sister away?”

Before Judith could answer he pushed her back again, violent and quick this time as he whipped her right back up.

“So, what is it? What are you trying to do, deputy?!” he yelled at her, causing the Peggies in the near distance to look up. Pulling their respective baptizees further away from the scene developing.

Judith was gasping for air still, dazed horribly by the impromptu waterboarding. But two important facts had sunken into her mind.

One, it truly was the real Faith that was talking to her through the hallucinations.

Two, John was the brother who knew about the more… flirtatious elements of their conversations.

And he was fucking pissed.

Realizing she was still dangling from her jacket lapels rather than being further drowned, Judith looked up at John who was evidently expecting an answer for his questions that she’d assumed were purely hypothetical.

“I’m not trying to do anything,” Judith poorly tried to defend herself, wrists beginning to ache from being tied painfully tight “She shows up, I talk to her. There’s no deep meaning behind it, I jus-”

Sudden, cold, shoved down into the water only to be whipped up again. Sputtering as John growled, “No deep meaning behind it? So you’re playing with her emotions then? You think she’s a toy?”

Not looking to get slammed into icy water again, Judith picked her words more carefully, “I’m not playing with anything, I’ve never even talked to her face-to-face! Hell, until just now, I was half convinced she was a concussion side effect!”

“Faith’s not a side effect,” he sounded offended, “She has a special gift from the Father and, for some reason, she’s using it to talk to you. Do you even care that she takes time out of her very busy day for you? Does your pride know no bounds?”

Desperately not wanting to be dunked again, Judith shook her head, “No, no, I-I’ve enjoyed talking to her this past week.”

God, it really had been just under a week. It felt like an eon. She already had the brother of some chick who just last night started talking about starting a family together trying to drown her over it. What a family of stage five clingers.

John eyeballed her critically, making her flinch as he went to push her down again. Stopped only by another male voice calling out to him, “Do you mock the cleansing, John?”

Both of them looked over and Judith felt the weird feeling of ‘really glad to see Joseph Seed.’ If this was how the rest of the cultists saw him on the reg, no wonder they were following him. As far as she was concerned, he was her temporary hero.

John on the other hand looked like a kicked dog, instantly balking at being reprimanded by his brother. With heavy steps he brought her back towards shore.

Slinking from behind Joseph, lurked Faith. Stepping around Joseph, she looked sheepish, “I… got the Father for you. I hope you won’t judge John too harshly from this he’s just a bit… dramatic.”

Oh yeah, Judith gets that, her brother also has waterboarded her past girlfriends. That’s just a normal thing brothers do. Not.

But Judith couldn’t respond to Faith. Or could she? Could her brothers see her too? Considering neither of them had reacted to her comment, she assumed this was still a one-to-one connection.

Judith didn’t gamble on any words but her face communicated pure relief as she stepped onto solid shore.

Watching Joseph further admonish John was uncomfortable, her former assailant crumpling into a troublemaking child caught in the act by his parent. While Judith’s knowledge of cult practices was limited, she could still take an educated guess and say ‘not making it into the new Eden was a bad, bad thing.’

Threats like this were evidently normal enough, considering Faith’s lack of reaction to it, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, love being waterboarded, I’m super into that,” Judith mumbled at her.

“He’s just doing his job, he has to cleanse you of your sins before you can be free,” Faith explained, tone a bit patronizing, “Once you’re cleansed of them you can atone for them. It’s a rough process, make no mistake of that, but if you’re ever going to join our family it’s necessary.”

“Well, tell John to fucking lay off me next time,” Judith whispered, eyeing the brothers carefully to make sure they couldn’t hear her as they talked.

“I will, I will,” Faith stepped towards her with a smile, her hands the bare minimum off from touching her face, “Just think of this as another step closer to me. Don’t you want to see me?”

Judith didn’t have a good answer to that. Bad guy womanizing Judith was quite into the concept of actually being in the same physical space as Faith again, especially as she knew this connection was indeed to the real deal. Good guy cop Judith knew rubbing elbows with the Seeds was a good way to walk down the path of ruin.

Either way, Judith decided to play along, “I want to see you but I’d rather not be tortured half to death before then.”

That did seem to cause Faith some pause, “I’ll… see what I can arrange.”

“You better. And don’t forget about Pratt. I’m still holding you accountable for that. Bonus points if you can talk to Johnny Appleseed over there about Hudson.”

“More and more…” Faith mumbled, before repeating herself, “I’ll see what I can arrange but I cannot move the stars.”

“I appreciate it,” Judith replied.

Judith jerked at the sudden appearance of John suddenly coming into view as Joseph walked away, addressing some of the other cultists. But Faith was amused as her brother ignored Judith, looking around blindly. Miming patting him on the head, she laughed, “He knows I’m here. Doesn’t know where. Tell him I say ‘hello’?”

Complying, Judith addressed him, “Faith told me to tell you she says hello.”

A surprisingly genuine smile cracked his face, looking at Judith with childlike glee, “Where is she?”

“Uhm, about a foot in front of you?” Judith answered, not noticing Faith’s sudden alarm in time.

Flinging an arm where instructed, John poofed Faith as she let out an irritated, “John, do NOT hit m-”

“She hates it when I do that,” John sang, clearly proud of himself, “But I’ve never been able to do it when she wasn’t talking to me. Maybe you’re alright, deputy.”

“Anytime,” she replied, relieved when it got a laugh out of him.

However, as he started leading her towards Joseph, unease took her again, “The Father would like to speak to you before we take you to atone for your sins.”

Judith didn’t know what ‘atoning’ entailed and desperately she didn’t want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/3 brothers met now although I've yet to actually write a single word from Jacob lmao.


	8. Hunted Hunter

“I still don’t see why you’re bothering with this,” Faith huffed, even as a drug induced hallucination seeming to have some issues with traversing the rugged terrain, “My family is so ready to accept you, why do you struggle?”

“Because, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m a police officer and I’m here to help take you guys down to protect the people who live here,” Judith calmly replied, awkwardly climbing over a rock while Faith gave up on walking to simply flit a few feet ahead.

“I was hoping you’d given up on such a childish endeavor,” Faith averted her eyes, “Surely you have to understand how much my family loves-”

“Faith, John tried to waterboard me. Nay, successfully waterboarded me.”

“It was a baptism.”

“Look, I don’t have a great concept of what a ‘baptism’ entails, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to be doing it over and over in frigid water in the middle of the night.”

Faith was a bit surprised by that, “You don’t know what a baptism is?”

“I mean, I’ve got vague second hand knowledge? I couldn’t run one if you asked me to.”

As if unaccustomed to anything resembling diversity, Faith tilted her head, “Are you… not a Christian?”

“I don’t make a big deal about it considering the, uh, sheer number of people who are around here but no. Barely even know anything about it, if I’m honest. Didn’t really know any when I was younger either. Raised on a horse ranch just outside the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Close enough that we could just ride over for family events but mostly I was just with my mom, dad, brother and sister all the time. Parents weren’t Christians and considering my behavior in high school… well, my friends weren’t Christians either.”

“But your name is from the Bible?”

“Is it? My parents just picked my and my siblings’ names from a baby name book they got from the library.”

“Yes, Judith is a person and a book of the Bible,” Faith incredulously explained, “Well, certain versions of the Bible. Some omit it, considering it more of a story than a truth. She killed an invader by beheading him in in his sleep.”

“Oh that’s fucking badass,” Judith perked up, “I always thought I just had a weird, old timey name.”

Determined to turn this around, Faith offered, “Perhaps sometime you can come by my cottage and I can teach you a little bit more about the Bible.”

Seeing Faith at her cottage good. Weird shanghai into Bible study bad. Whatever, it’s not like she going to start being rude now, “That’d be fine but you’re going to have to tell me where you live then. See me in person.”

She smiled at that, “I won’t pretend I’m not excited to see you but… I would rather it be in a more neutral context.”

“I mean, I’m wandering all over the place. Set a location somewhere you consider ‘neutral’ and I’m more than willing to meet up with you there. Just another on my checklist of things I have to do.”

Unsure, Faith resumed walking next to her, “It’s just…”

“It’s just what?”

“I won’t pretend I’m not afraid of meeting you.”

Judith wasn’t the type to play dumb, “What, you think I’m going to take a swing at you? A shot?”

“No, I’m a bit more concerned with being arrested,” Faith shook her head, “I don’t think you’d hurt me. I won’t pretend I agree with your violent methods as they stand but I don’t see you trying to harm someone who is unarmed and not trying to fight back.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t see a lot of point in arresting you in the middle of all this shit,” Judith replied, “Sure, you’re involved with the drug production but you yourself aren’t out killing people. Most I accomplish getting you is making Joseph even more pissed at me or, you know, he’d have to replace you with someone else to handle drugs.”

‘Replace.’ It didn’t go without note to Judith the pained flinch at that word. Part of her wanted to dig in, find out why that in particular struck such a particular nerve. Then again, she’d heard first hand Joseph threaten John with not making it to ‘The New Eden’ should he fail. What kind of shitbag threatens his own family like they’re replaceable? Judith wasn’t on good terms with her brother and sister but she couldn’t imagine either of them turning her out if she fell upon hard times.

It was weird having Faith be here but also be quiet, just quietly twisting her own hands as she awkwardly she followed Judith down the hill. Not knowing what else to say, she just doubled down, “But seriously. You’re not high on my ‘threat’ list. Now your brothers… well put me in a room with one of them not tied down and I’d slap some cuffs on them in a heartbeat.”

“Frankly, that’s not very comforting either,” Faith replied, “I’d really rather nobody in my family end up in cuffs.”

“Well, maybe they should have thought of that before starting a cult.”

“We’re not a cult, we’re-”

Quickly, Judith poofed Faith as she slid into a bush. Admittedly not an on-purpose move but rather a need to get out of the sight of the guard posted outside.

Of course the last place Jess was seen would be overrun with Peggies.

Clearing out this outpost would make for a perfect beacon to hopefully bring Jess out of hiding.

\- - -

It wasn’t hard. An alarming part of her time in Hope County, internally at least, was how easy it was becoming for her to take out crowds of people.

She didn’t like it. There was no joy to be had when she cleared an outpost. It was simply something she did now, a necessity. Uncomfortably highlighted by Faith not reappearing while she did it.

But she had to wonder… might be a bit of a courtesy or concern that Faith not show up mid-fight. A distraction in this environment could very easily be fatal.

Either way, Faith was back the second a very raggedy looking woman started approaching Judith. If she were here physically, Judith would have no doubt the woman would be wrapped tightly around her arm. Possessively marking Judith as her own.

“Pretty fuckin’ impressive,” she said, stepping over a dead body shot right through the eyes, “Sexy as shit seeing someone lay out Peggies that perfectly. You’re one hell of a marksman. Not as clean or as impressive as a bow and arrow but still.”

“What was that, a neg?” Judith laughed, shaking the hand extended to her.

“Nah, just fuckin’ with you,” she replied, “Name’s Jess Black but I got the feeling you already knew that.”

“Yuhp, pointed here by both your uncle and Nick Rye. Seems you’re a bit popular.”

“Everyone likes to pet the stray dog,” Faith hissed, disgusted by seeing Jess up close. Tilting her head to get a better look at Jess’s dirty and scarred face.

“Words gets around about me, I get shit done. So do you. Everyone in Hope County’s talkin’ about you. Judith Redfox, The Unstoppable Force. How’s about you help me with one of the few things I just can’t get done on my own? I’d definitely owe you one. Or two. Or three. Either way, you helping me is also you helping you.”

“I’m listening,” Judith replied, “If you think my sniper rifle’d be enough.”

“Hey, I’m just sayin’, you ever wanna learn a real weapon I’d be happy to give you some archery lessons. Extra bow right over there.”

Faith scoffed at that, “She wants you to move backwards. Simple girl.”

Feeling a bit mischievous, Judith grabbed that bow she’d been pointed towards. Relishing the enthusiasm of Jess versus the disappointment of Faith. The former smiling as she turned and gestured for Judith to follow her, “C’mon, I’ve got a lead on the Cook but we’ve gotta move fast.”

Judith gave Faith a little wink as she passed, “What, can’t I impress you in a different way?”

Ahead of her, Jess looked back, “What’d you say?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself,” Judith replied, ignoring the huff from Faith.

“Bad habit, slippery slope to hallucinations,” Jess shook her head, turning back, “I speak from experience. Don’t. Shit gets weird starving alone in the forest for like a week.”

Judith stifled a laugh considering the very real hallucination, an odd contradiction, instead following after Jess, “Sounds like that was a bad time.”

“Sure was, bunch of Peggies surrounded my area and I couldn’t find a hole in their patrol to escape from. Didn’t even know I was there, just happened into a bad place. Just kept eatin’ random plants and shit, couldn’t even hunt without fear of being heard.”

“How’d you get out?”

“Just sorta lost my mind and bolted. Scared the shit out of a Peggie chick, might’ve been my first and only kill by way of heart attack.”

“I’d be concerned too if a rabid beast came lumbering out of the woods,” Faith scoffed.

“Take it that wasn’t your first run in with the Project?” Judith ignored Faith, to her irritance.

“Hell no, we’re creeping up on that right about now,” Jess pointed forward.

Following the path of her finger, Judith grimaced at the grisly sight before them. A small camp set up, centerpiece being a stack of flaming bodies, torched in an aboveground mass grave. Some propped up on sticks like the world’s sickest pig roast.

“The Cook,” Jess hissed, “One of the worst of the worst, cultwise. One of Jacob’s top men. You seem relatively not stupid as fuck, I betcha can guess how he got his name.”

“Makes a mean casserole?”

Sudden and sharp, Jess laughed before cramming it back down, “You could find the fun in a funeral, couldn’t you?”

“Kinda have to in my line of work,” Judith replied, shaking her head, “Being here’s only made it worse when I gotta look at things like… this.”

She gestured to the pile of bodies with disgust.

“Yeah, suppose you ain’t grown up with this shit. Probably had a nice homelife, got baked some apple pies. Kinda envy you.”

“It wasn’t all flowers and sausages but yeah, lived a pretty normal life. Relatively. A bit strict but I know they love me, I mean, they took me on trips and bought me presents and stuff. I’m maybe a bit of a disappointment to them though, I definitely know that.”

“I’d kill to be a disappointment to my parents,” Jess grumbled, gesturing for Judith to leave this grim scene behind and head deeper into the forest, “Don’t have them around to be disappointed in me anymore. I was a troublesome kid, always getting into fights, doin’ drugs, sellin’ drugs, stealin’ shit, the works. Set the principal’s car on fire once.”

Struggling to keep up with Jess as she expertly navigated the craggy and difficult terrain like they were walking on flat, nice concrete. Judith never thought she’d be finding herself missing something as simple as flat ground. But god help her if she wasn’t consumed with that thought the second she stepped foot in the Whitetail Mountains.

“Barbaric,” Faith shook her head, “Are you sure we want to waste our time collecting her?”

“Well, somebody’s got quite a rap sheet then I assume?” Judith laughed, unable to give Faith more than a ‘calm down’ wave.

“Oh, hell no,” Jess smirked over her shoulder as she scrambled up a rock like a happy little goat, “You think I got caught? You insult me. I never got caught.”

“Huh, that’s interesting,” Judith couldn’t help but smirk back, “Because you sure did confess a hell of a lot of crimes to an active officer just now.”

Faith was absolutely skipping backwards, delighted by this turn of events, “Oh, if you’d just cuff her now…”

Obviously Judith wasn’t going to do that but instantly Jess’s jaw dropped, “I mean- I just- We’re-”

Laughing and giving Jess a hearty slap on the back and she just pushed her forward, “Calm down, I’m just fucking with you. Even if I could be going around arresting you guys for all this shit I’ve seen, I’m not gonna waste my or your time with arresting you for shit you did in high school. Hell, I did shit in high school.”

“Oh, pray tell?” Faith tilted her head, equal parts curious and slightly judgemental. It almost seemed like ‘curious’ was winning out though.

Luckily for her, Jess was equally interested and, you know, the one physically there and that Judith could answer without looking like she was a madwoman, “Oh man, I’ve gotta hear this. C’mon, don’t be a tease, pony up.”

“Well, I’ll tell you now we weren’t running in the same groups. I was a huge jock bully, only girl on the football team and cocky as fuck for it. I’ve never been the biggest or the strongest but I’ve got tenacity and damned if anyone’s gonna stop me when I want something.”

“So you were the one shoving people in lockers and giving ‘em swirlies?”

“Well, swirlies were a little too gross but locker shoving in spades. Starting fights, some deserved, some just pent up aggression. Did love beating up dudes who thought they were hot shit.”

“Fuckin’ hot,” Jess definitely appreciated that. Faith would have appreciated it too if not blinded by blazing green jealousy at Jess right now. If glares from a hallucination that she can’t even see could kill… But Jess couldn’t see that so there was nothing to stop her from stepping over a large log to walk a bit closer to Judith, “So, bad girl, what else were you gettin’ up to back then?”

“Won’t pretend I was getting into as much trouble as you but I went to a lot of house parties. I’m peak ‘social drinker’ but I’ve always gotten pretty wild when I do. Get a real hatred of shirts, get real flirty. Still do, when I go out with my friends I know there’s always a designated ‘Judith wrangler.’”

“Sounds like I need to get some drinks in you after this,” Jess grinned as she continued to track things that Judith couldn’t even begin to see, “Makin’ me wish it wasn’t such a long hike to wherever this bastard is holed up.”

“You better not,” Faith sounded uncertain, eyeballing Judith almost… nervously.

Judith decided a brush off would be prudent, “Hey, I’m not looking to become an alcoholic so as far as I’m concerned the physical exercise is better.”

A sudden hand jerking out and stopping Judith, nearly sending her toppling down the hill, “There the bastard is. You ready, Judy?”

“Judith. And I’m always ready.”

“Alright, time to teach you how to put that bow to good use,” Jess replied, more than eager to hang off of Judith to help adjust her grip and trajectory.

Beside them, silently and enviously watching this unfold, Faith simmered in anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 chapters, 17.5k in and I still haven't had the main couple physically be in the same room yet.
> 
> This is the closest I've ever gotten to something that could be called a slowburn.


	9. Reach Out And Touch Faith

“I don’t know why you BOTHER,” Faith huffed, just shy from throwing a tantrum as she stomped ahead of Judith. Cocking her head at her,” I don’t understand! Why? What are you trying to accomplish?”

Looking back, Judith wanted to make sure Jess was very far out of earshot before she answered. Waiting until she’d wandered about fifty, sixty feet into the forest before even looking at Faith, let alone answering. Mouth barely open as she was cut off.

“Why do you ignore me?!”

“Faith, you’re not real.”

“You know you’re really talking to me! John showed you!”

“This is true but as far as everyone else is concerned, I’m alone and definitely am not constantly tailed by a weird drug induced hallucination of a head cultist. If there’s someone around, I cannot respond to you because to them? I’m just talking to myself.”

“Then stop being around them,” Faith replied, throwing her hands up, “Simple as that! You don’t need them! You have me, you have my brothers-”

“Fucking hell, exactly how unaware that the only interactions I’ve had with your brothers is one gets my helicopter crashed by crazy motherfuckers trying to pull him out of it, one transported me into a fucking crazy murder hellscape directly after showing me my best friend in peril, and the last one straight up waterboarded me. You know my opinions on them aren’t exactly making me feel all hugs and kumbaya, right?”

Suddenly stumbling backwards over a rock, Judith briefly forgot that the vision rushing at her face wasn’t real. Falling on her ass in a pile of twigs, looking up at Faith unnervingly hovering off the ground above her, she’d never seen someone that angry at her specifically. Normally calm face twisted into a snarl, arched down to be inches from her face and erasing all thoughts about how easy it would be to poof her from Judith’s mind.

“You don’t even KNOW my brothers! You don’t know anything!! I’m here to HELP you, why won’t you let me?! Everything with you is… is just so infuriating! I offer you a hand and you smack it away to grab onto some- some nasty little feral, forest woman! I could give you EVERYTHING, Judith. Companionship, safety, salvation! Anything you could ever want or need, I have! All these inbred apostates can give you is a moldy mattress and eternal damnation!!”

Scrambling to her feet, Judith tried not to look intimidated by the now ominously hovering woman, “Look, I know we’ve got… whatever the hell we’ve got but I mean… what the hell do you think is gonna happen here, Faith? What’s this mythical happy ending you’re chasing? What is EXACTLY how you want this to go?!”

“Well, for starters, you’d stop FIGHTING us,” Faith started counting out on her fingers, tilting her head sharply on each of her points, “You come back with me to the main compound. You meet Joseph, REALLY meet Joseph. He’ll certainly call my other brothers and me to the church. You talk to us, really talk to us, and you understand, you FINALLY understand what we’re trying to tell you. You join us, we can be a family like we’re supposed to, like Joseph says. You help us instead of hurting us over and over and over. We’re together, having each other even as the Great Collapse tears the world down around us. A family, all together, all safe.”

While she’d started her little speech off angry she looked downright dreamy halfway through. Caught up in her own little fantasy, slowly drifting back down to earth. Face going softer by each word as she stepped slowly towards Judith. Stopping just short, reaching up before stopping mere millimeters from Judith’s face. Can’t touch her, it would only poof her. Eyes falling to the forest floor, disappointed.

“I just want a family, it’s all I’ve ever wanted, it’s all I’ve ever been denied.”

The sudden sob would have echoed in the forest if she’d been tangible. Completely lost for what to do, Judith just watched Faith collapse to the ground without a sound. Sitting ungainly, like an overgrown child. Completely desolate.

Awkwardly, Judith squatted down to her level, unable to do anything but talk to the woman who was surely physically miles and miles away, “Look… Faith… Things aren’t… they’re just not gonna go down like that. I need you to understand my position here. Your family is hurting people and it’s literally my job to stop things like this from happening.”

“They’re not-”

“Faith, you’re not stupid. You’ve seen the bodies.”

Teary eyes threatening to overflow, Faith’s flip wobbled, “But they’re just-”

“Look, there’s no ‘but’s when it comes to dead bodies,” Judith shook her head, “I’m being put in a position where I have to be the one gunning people down. Every good cop’s worst fear is having to actually use their combat training and I’m having to do it en masse to keep even more people from dying.”

Shaking her head, Faith opened her mouth to assuredly try and further defend her family.

It was cut short though by the sound of an arrow whipping through the air, the sickening, squelchy noise of it embedding itself deep in Judith’s leg, the sound of her pained scream loud in the dead silence of the forest.

All Faith could do is watch as Judith nigh instantly passed out from the pain.

\- - -

Sitting on the cold, dirt floor Judith found herself staring at the heavy lock on the door with a frantic need to claw at it. Wishing she had enough hair to justify bobby pins, dreaming of finagling one in the dark hole until she could free herself.

But instead, she was just starving alone angrily in a cage. Her only company the other captives who really couldn’t give a shit about anything outside their own miserable little prisons.

Not that Judith could blame their apathy.

But for her it was a fresh new hell, courtesy of an ugly old bitch.

She’d only been around Jacob that one time but Judith could say with relatively confidence that he was her least favorite of the brothers. Current internal brother ranking from “hate the least” to “hate the most” goes Joseph, John, Jacob. Might change considering it’s currently “hasn’t done anything to be yet”, “waterboarded me” and “I don’t even know what this fucker did but he’s got my best friend.”

Some dark part of her gut wondered if Pratt was even still alive but considering what Joseph had said to John… well, he certainly seemed to wanted the cops alive.

Judith was just hoping this wouldn’t lead to a fate worse than death.

More concerningly, Faith hadn’t shown up yet. Judith wasn’t entirely sure how long she’d been out but it had been long enough to wake up starving and she’d been conscious for more than long enough for Faith to reappear.

Somehow, being kidnapped then ignored by all the Seeds was somehow insulting. You dragged my ass to hell and you’re not even gonna monologue at me?

Resting against the metal bars, Judith figured drifting off was her best option considering what the fuck else was she going to do.

Grazing the edge of sleep, Judith wasn’t entirely sure how long she was out again before she hear a familiar voice calling her name. Groggily lifting her head, the white dress stood out starkly against the drab camp she was standing in.

Pushing herself to her feet, Judith tried not to wince at the hunger clawing at her stomach. Not entirely sure if proximity to the hallucination was necessary for whispering but deciding it didn’t hurt to make sure.

“Hey, welcome to my house, you want me to show you around?” Judith sarcastically swung an arm towards her cage, “Gonna have to ask you to take your shoes off because the carpet’s new.”

Amusedly wiggling one of her feet, Faith mused, “I actually am wearing shoes, for once.”

Looking down, so she was. White flats. Very out of place on her.

“So, what, are you here to try to explain to me why Jacob putting me in a cage to sleep in a mud puddle is good for me?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

That was the closest thing Faith had ever had to admitting one of her brothers was doing something wrong. Judith would take it, she guessed.

“My leg is killing me,” Judith replied, truthfully, “I haven’t looked under the bandage yet and I’m not looking forward to it. Best I can tell there’s not anything permanent function-wise but I hope you like scars because it’s gonna leave a hell of a mark.”

“Scars don’t bug me, all of my brothers are pretty scarred up and I still love them.”

What a grim thing to have in common with these assholes, “Well, I’m kinda hoping to not be a gigantic mass of scar tissue so maybe talk to Sergeant Jerkoff about letting me go? Come to think of it, did you ever try to convince him to let Staci go like I asked?”

Hands twisting in the flowers on her waist, Faith replied slowly, “I did… It… well, it didn’t work but I did try... brought Jacob a home cooked dinner right to his cabin and everything but he wouldn’t budge an inch no matter what I offered in return. But I really did try, if that means anything to you.”

Sighing, Judith’s hand slipped down the bar, “Well, honestly, didn’t exactly expect you to succeed anyways. It was pointless hope combined with at least you being on my side in some way. Even it was small and doomed to fail.”

Moving closer to the bars, Faith rocked back and forth, “I’m always on your side, Judith, we all are. We just can’t wait until you realize it and let us properly accept you.”

“You know, takes some real balls to say that while you’re on the other side of the bars. Visually, at least. Couldn’t you have at least poofed in on this side of the bars?”

Smiling wider, Faith shook her head, “No, I prefer being on this side of them.”

“Thanks,” Judith shot her a look, “Really feeling that on my side part now.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure very soon we’ll be on the same side. Together, like we’re supposed to be. We’ll all be a family. You, me, Joseph, John, Jacob. We’ll survive the Great Collapse and walk into the new Eden hand-in-hand.”

“Funny way to greet your supposed new sister-in-law. Arrow to the ankle.”

“You can deny it again and again but all of us care about you. Jacob just wants to see you succeed and help the family.”

“And what if I don’t want to help ‘the family’?”

“You will.”

The smug look on Faith’s face made Judith’s blood boil. Shaking her head, she quickly jutted out a hand to banish the apparition, deal with this later when she’s not in a cage.

But when her hand reached Faith’s chest it didn’t find itself sailing through the air, streaming through green mist. Instead her fingers sprawled out over patterned lace, wrist grabbed tightly by Faith’s own hands. Pressing Judith’s palm firmly against her sternum, just enough that she could feel Faith’s heartbeat.

Mouth agape, Judith stuttered out, “You’re… you’re the…”

“I’m the real Faith,” she nodded, gently raising Judith’s hand to plant a kiss on it, “It was hard for me to convince Jacob to let me in here but when I saw that arrow in your leg…”

Former irritation abruptly gone, Judith was dumbstruck by this turn of events, “Man, shit, you’re… this is weird.”

“A good weird, I hope,” Faith grinned, blushing slightly as Judith’s second hand came through the bars. Both of them gently grabbing her by the jaw to pull her closer. Examining her curiously.

Thumb rubbing her cheek Judith nodded, still a bit in awe, “Yeah… yeah… circumstances aside.”

“I wish it was on better terms too but… well, this is just going to be our first time seeing each other, right?”

“You gonna trust me enough to meet me not behind bars?”

“As long as you promise not to put me behind them later.”

Judith knew she couldn’t exactly promise that and wasn’t about to lie right to her flesh-and-blood face, “You… you know I can’t promise that.”

Faith tapped on the bars with a couple of her fingers, “Well… let you asked of me… try?”

“I will, as best I can,” Judith replied, hands sliding down to her shoulders, “But I won’t pretend: it would really help if you’d be helping us rather than your brothers.”

“You know my answer to that,” Faith shook her head with a chuckle, reaching in and gently grabbing the threadbare cloth of Judith’s shirt and pulled her closer to her, “We both know which side we’ll end on together.”

Both were very set in their belief of how this would shake out, both knowing only one of them would be right.

A bit awkwardly, Faith kept insistently tugging until Judith and her were pressed as tightly against the bars as possible. Just enough room between the bars for their lips to press together, ignoring the metal uncomfortably keeping them apart. A short peck, cut even shorter by the sound of footsteps echoing not far away.

Freezing like a deer in headlights, Faith remained at the bars leaving only Judith to have the sense to scramble away. Still a potentially incriminating scene but not quite as damning.

Both had assumed it would have been a guard or Jacob but instead a particularly haggard and emaciated man stumbled in insitead. Bewildered for only a second, Pratt looked from Judith to Faith and back again. Surprise almost instantly giving away to resignment.

This maybe hasn’t been the first time Pratt’s seen his best friend chatting up some questionable woman but very easily the most egregious. Backing away from the bars herself, Faith hooked her hands behind her back with a guilty look and an uncertain, “Hello?”

Not being given a single second to comment on this, Pratt scrambled to the back as Jacob did walk in with Joseph in tow.

Jacob didn’t look surprised to see his sister standing there but man, did he look disappointed in her. Maybe it wasn’t just John that knew anymore. Considering Faith’d tried to convince him to free Pratt and also talked her way in here, might have had to confess certain things to the lumbering old bastard.

Looking at the third, final brother, calmly observing the scene in front of him, Judith felt she could reasonably surmise that he’d figured it out on his own.

“You’re still here,” Jacob eyeballed Faith critically.

“You told me I could be here-”

“I said you could come in briefly,” Jacob gestured for Pratt, a barely hidden annoyed look on his face, “You can talk to her all you want. Later.”

“But you said-” Faith started before being awkwardly escorted out by Pratt. Clearly the man was too terrified to put a hand on her and guiding her out was more based on a stilted and uncomfortable dance of “I don’t want you to touch me, you don’t want to touch me.”

Watching her best friend escort out her weird… girlfriend? Was Faith her girlfriend? A slightly evil Juliet to her pretty fucking stupid Romeo?

Judith wasn’t given time to really contemplate the implications of exactly what that kiss was going to mean going forward as Joseph crouched in front of her, about to make Judith’s whole dilemma about ten times harder as well as instantly dropping himself to the bottom of her internal brother ranking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took like 8.4 chapters but they're finally in the same place, physically. This is hands down the closest I can get to a slowburn with my very impatient, very domestic loving lil hands.


	10. I’m Your Number One Fan

Grasping at the haze over her eyes, Judith couldn’t even begin to know where she was as she slowly, slowly woke back up.

Her mind was still reeling from her time trapped by Jacob, the words of Joseph’s sickening story echoing in the forefront her head to a backdrop of the nightmare world of Jacob’s. A slurry mix of everything she was being forced to swim through to get back to reality.

Blurry world growing clearer, a few things were certain to Judith. One, she was somewhere safe. Two, she was somewhere soft. Three, it was bright. Very bright.

Blinking once, twice, she was up. Looking at a cabin ceiling, light brown wood arced over her head.

Pushing herself up she swivelled her head confusedly around the unfamiliar building.

A nicely decorated bedroom was around her, the style very familiar. White curtains with green banners draped over the tops, Eden’s Gate cross stark and black against them. White wicker things littered the room, including a chest at the foot of the bed and a couple chairs.

Looking down, the thick, soft green comforter was the same as the curtain decorations. Giant cross over her body almost feeling like a threat.

Jerking her head to the side, Judith looked at the side table. A glass of water, one of those Peggie bibles or whatever they call it, a very large bouquet of bliss flowers, and a framed photograph of the Seed Family. Weirdly casual compared to the ones hanging around Hope County.

If she had to guess, it looked like a birthday party. Probably Faith’s. The woman herself beaming in the center, cheeks rosy and eyes bright with her brothers fanned around her. Arms hooked around John and Joseph’s waists.

John with his arm around her shoulders as well, nearly putting her into a headlock with a big smile on his face. Joseph upright to the side, serene smile on his face. Jacob looming behind them all, smiling an incredibly forced smile. Probably not a guy who likes having his picture taken.

Maybe Judith would have found this a little more endearing if not for what she’d just gone through. Jacob, her and her friend’s captor, sending her into that weird dream place directly after Joseph graphically describing killing his infant daughter. As far as she was concerned, that image was just about the creepiest thing she could wake up to right now.

Either way, it was immediately obvious to Judith where she was. She’s have to be a drooling idiot not to realize it, honestly.

She was in Faith’s house. Wherever that may be in the valley.

Even though she’d needed no confirmation of this she got it in the form of Faith herself cracking the door open and peeking in. Weirdly enough she was dressed very… normal. Normal lacy white dress exchanged for an oversized t-shirt with a flowery pattern and a dove on it and modest capri pajama pants. It was cute to see her so… comfy.

Happily, she flung open the door upon seeing that Judith was awake, “You’re up! I was starting to get worried!”

Even though Judith knew this was the real thing it was jarring to feel Faith sit on the edge of the bed and reach out to brush some of her short black hair out of her face almost reverently. Still out of it as Faith squirmed one of her hands into Judith’s which brought about another revelation about her current situation.

Making a move to sit up too, Judith felt a sharp metal tug against her left leg with a clanging noise.

“What’s… what the fuck?” Judith babbled, tugging her leg again to the same end.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Faith said, her hand sliding down Judith’s leg, “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t try to go anywhere. Not with your other leg still injured.”

Right, the arrow. She’d been made to run on it too, agonizing of course. But now…

“Why can’t I feel anything?” Judith asked, suddenly terrified of the answer.

“We had to amputate.”

“WHAT?!” Judith jerked fully upright, frantically grabbing at the comforter over her.

“I’m kidding,” Faith giggled, gently pushing Judith back down and patting where her injured leg very clearly still was, “We have access to a lot of painkillers considering we can make our own from bliss flowers. I just didn’t want you to hurt anymore.”

Heart still beating, Judith relaxed back against the headrest, “Oh god, don’t do that. I’ve seen enough shit here to believe that.”

“I’d never let them hurt you like that,” Faith replied, scooting up closer to Judith. Leaning over to plant another kiss on her lips, unimpeded by bars this time though. Forgetting about the uncomfortable circumstances, Judith’s anger and apprehension instantly melted.

The kiss was a bit disappointingly short though, more of a slightly extended peck than anything.

“Is that all?” Judith teased, grabbing the front of her baggy shirt to try and pull her back, “I could think of a few things we could get up to.”

Softly slapping at the hand, Faith shook her head with a coy grin, “I made us breakfast. Would you rather it gets cold?”

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly, betraying her other basic need that was a bit more vital.

“I guess that can wait.”

\- - -

It was jarring. Judith didn’t quite know what to make about this weird, twisted little domestic thing Faith had set up.

On one hand, she was being nearly waited on hand and foot. On one leg, she was chained to the bed and not in a particularly sexy way. Although weirdly grateful that the chain was long enough to reach the bathroom just outside the bedroom. On the other hand, it had been a long time since Judith had had a proper significant other and despite the circumstances, Faith was quite cute. Bustling around in her jammies, cuddling up to her. On the other leg, was the injury left by said woman’s brother shooting Judith in the fucking leg.

Breakfast had been fairly normal. It almost seemed like Faith was pointedly trying to be a perfect little wife. Curled up happily by Judith’s side, insistently hand feeding her homemade pancakes.

Conversation was almost militantly casual. Judith being forced to act like lighthearted stories about the Seed brothers weren’t deeply offputting.

Despite Judith hesitation to properly enjoy these stories (and usually she loved hearing sweet family stories from her significant others) she had to admit... it was utterly fascinating to hear about what these prominent, terrifying cult leaders were like in their downtime.

Camping trips, going fishing, church events, hiking, movie nights. Things like that. Normal family things, albeit the Seeds being abnormally physically active and outdoorsy.

Judith could pick out dynamics easily. Faith was certainly the closest to John as she’s mentioned, frequently staying over at his house. Enough to even have a room specifically made up for her in Seed Ranch. Just constant sleepover movie nights, like a couple of teenage girls. 

Joseph a bit less, affectionate but still extremely disconnected. Reverent but removed. Time was spent with just the two of them though, mostly quiet dinners.

Jacob and Faith... their very opposite personalities and lifestyles clash. It really didn’t seem like they spent time alone together at all.

In turn, Judith told stories of her friends being her relationship with her family could be… a bit rocky. Her friends had very easily become her new family.

Pratt, her closest friend, her housemate. Rough and tumble stories of “tackling him to the ground and putting him into a headlock until he gives up” and bachelor tales of “going to work hungover and trying to cover it up with sunglasses like that wasn’t painfully obvious.”

A more normal adult friendship with Hudson, dinners at fairly nice restaurants and going late night jogging. Drinking at shifty pubs with Burke. Treating Whitehorse like a second dad.

However, the fact they were having these conversations while Judith was literally chained to a bed didn’t escape her notice. Metal uncomfortably around her ankle impossible to ignore.

“So, Faith…” Judith started as the woman reentered after doing god-knows-what in the rest of the house, “Got uh, got a couple questions for you.”

Faith cozied up to her excitedly, “Of course, what do you want to know?”

“Yeah, you’re, uh, not keeping me chained to this bed for forever, right?”

“Don’t you want to be together forever?” Faith grinned.

“Well, I’d rather that ‘forever’ not be, you know, me tied to a bed,” Judith jangled the chain, “Can’t exactly do a lot together. You keep talkin’ about these family outings and stuff, what’re you going to do, go and leave me tied here with a bag of food so I don’t starve?”

“I know, I’m just teasing you,” Faith said, patting the leg, “Just until your leg is better. Shouldn’t be more than a week.”

“A week?!” Judith yelped, “But I have to-”

“You have to rest,” Faith asserted, “I’m not letting you go until your leg is better. That’s why you’re chained up, I’ve seen enough of you to know you wouldn’t let something like an injured leg stop you. So it’s up to me instead.”

“It’s nice to be seeing you in person but, uh,” Judith replied, “But I can’t stay for a whole week.”

“You will,” Faith asserted, “Unless you’re going to make some grand escape because I’m quite good at not being talked out of things.”

“Stubborn, you mean.”

“If you must call it that.”

“I just call it as it is,” Judith replied, throwing her hands up, “But I’m stubborn too.”

“Stubborn enough to refuse the vacation I’m so graciously offering you?”

Sighing, Judith shook her head, “Never did like vacations much. Whitehorse had to practically threaten me to take my days off, told me I was gonna explode if I kept going.”

“And where do you like to go on vacation?”

“Are you secretly asking me where I’d like to take you?”

Happily wiggling, Faith smirked, “Maybe I am.”

“Well, I’m not a big traveller,” Judith admitted, “But I’ve always wanted to try snowboarding. So, just head a little bit higher in the state, go to a nice ski lodge. Try that, have some fun in the snow, hot cocoa afterwards. You know. All that winter romantic fun and junk.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Faith chirped, clapping, “We should go this winter!”

“If everything works out,” Judith replied, quietly suppressing the fact that that future was so uncertain because, uh, well, Faith would probably be in jail.

Faith went on, planning minutiae of a trip that may never happen for a while before skipping out to grab a glass of water before bed. Leaving Judith to stare at a wall and contemplate.

I mean… what was this going to end as? Judith had perfect confidence in herself and the resistance taking down the cult. That wasn’t sticking around. And even on the slim chance if it did keep going, what was Judith gonna do? Shack up with the cult herald? Become a herald herself? Would they even let a non-related person be a herald?

Irrelevant, the cult is going down. Which means Faith… well, Faith is going to jail. Full stop. Unless Judith could manage to convince her to completely sell out her family. Even then, she imagined the woman would be going to jail for at least a little bit. Someone would press charges, all of Henbane River hated her.

That’d be a good look. Judith could see the headlines now, “Hero Cop of Hope County, Dating Former Cult Head Drug Lord.” Nice and scandalous. Picture of her talking to Faith through glass with one of those landmine phones.

Groaning, Judith hooked her arm over her eyes, blocking out the world. This was crazy, she was doing some crazy shit for a drugged up cultist.

But she was a very cute and sweet cultist.

If she’d met Faith under better circumstances things would be perfect. A happy, perky little lady who thinks she’s just the most interesting person on the planet. Impressed by her. Knowing she can be grouchy, sometimes it’s nice to date someone who isn’t a fellow gloomy bastard.

Also, were it literally any other family, Judith had always found close families admirable. But uh, not when your family kills babies and tortures people.

Her own lack of family had made Judith pretty alone. Her friends were always there for her but it’d been a long, long time since she’d had any sort of long term romantic partner and Judith’d never been the type to enjoy being single.

Of course, she knew her reputation for being a bit of a player but ultimately, she just wanted to find the one to spend her life with. She was just the sort to happily, well, examine all her options, shall we say.

Why’d she have to choose the worst option in Hope County, then?

Well, not the worst. Any of the brothers would be worse options, as far as Judith was concerned. But still, couldn’t she have caught her eye on like… Jess or Mary May or, hell, just not having a crush on anyone at all.

A cold hand brushed her arm, making her jump as Faith had snuck up on her, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah just… a little groggy… been rough going since I’ve gotten here.”

Smiling, Faith slid into the bed again, pressed even tighter against Judith’s side as she pulled her arm tightly around herself, “Well, even if you don’t want to, this week will be good for you. Just you and me, resting together. Talking about anything and everything… I found some board games in a cabinet here too! We’ll have fun. Getting closer than ever.”

Looking up at Faith, beaming happily at her, it was evident why Judith was so enamored. A beam of light in the darkness, the only person around here that wasn’t angry or scared or hostile.

Faith was happy to see her, happy to be alive, just… happy.

“Closer than ever?” Judith grinned, creeping the hand over Faith’s shoulder up and down her arm. Glad to just be basking in her warmth as she delivered a kiss to her neck, undercut by a grin, “That’s pretty forward, don’t you think?”

Blue eyes going wide and face going flush, Faith stuttered, “I didn’t- I didn’t mean like that!”

“Freudian?”

“Freud was a fraud!”

With a yelp and giggle, Faith was far too easily lifted up and swung over Judith. A wide arc, bouncing on the bed with a loud creak before being pinned tightly down by the much more muscular body. Lean and powerful.

“Now who’s being forward?” Faith nervously patted at her arm, eyes pointedly looking anywhere but at the cop looming over her. Face blazing as Judith dove in, face buried in the crook of Faith’s neck hungrily.

Coming up only for a quip, “Oh, me? I’ve always been this way.”

But as Judith made a grab for the hem of Faith’s baggy shirt she could an icy hand stopping her with a very reluctant, “I don’t… I don’t really go that fast...”

Pausing, Judith remembered one of the few facts she knew about Christian girls with a bit of disappointed awe, “Are you… one of those wait-until-marriage types?”

“Not quite,” Faith flushed, eye still averted as she gently nudged Judith off of her, “I’m just… I don’t jump into things quite so quick. I mean, this is the only time we’ve been alone together, ever.”

“That’s… that’s fair,” Judith expertly crushed down her disappointment, rolling off of her and onto her back.

The nearly smug, judgemental look on Faith’s face was insufferable as she propped her head up, “So, you’re a bit quick with your partners?”

“I don’t think you want to hear the answer to that question,” Judith awkwardly laughed, “We’ve uh, lived different lives. Maybe we should just leave it at that.”

Her next question was sharper, “Have you ever not been faithful?”

“No, no,” Judith felt blue eyes bore into her own brown ones, hands lifted slightly in self defense, “I won’t pretend I don’t get around but I don’t stray when I’ve got someone. Never in my life.”

“How many people have you dated?”

“You know, this is a very uncomfortable strain of questioning you’ve struck upon…”

“It’s an important strain of questioning.”

“Is it?”

Faith certainly didn’t seem too happy with that answer but she seemed to give up. Pushing Judith down and curling up under her arm with a mumbled, “I’ll find out eventually. Turn off the light?”

Reaching up awkwardly, Judith just barely could reach the lamp with Faith sliding off of her.

But she did, quickly bathing the room in darkness aside from the moonlight streaming in through the too-thin white curtains.

Faith just barely visible in the darkness, eyes smiled and mouth curled up into a smile.

She seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.

Leaving Judith alone to contemplate this… all of this.

Laying her options out in her mind.

\- - -

Rubbing her eyes roughly against the harsh sunlight glaring through the window, she was instantly wide awake.

Faith was out cold next to her, dozing happily on Judith’s chest.

Judith knew she had to stop this. Somehow. Get out of here before she gets more attached to this imitation of a girlfriend. This was nice, distractingly nice, but she couldn’t keep entertaining this flight of fancy.

A light sleeper, Judith had woken up many times during the night. Each time, carefully prodding at Faith’s arm to no avail. Testing for the plan she was already setting in motion.

Sliding out from under Faith was slow going but eventually she was alone, hugging tightly onto a pillow in Judith’s absence. Perfectly undisturbed.

Preliminary digging had already given Judith her out. Bobby pins in the drawer on the bedside table, leaving Judith grateful that whoever’s house this was had hair long enough to justify having these around. Also, for once in her life, being grateful for her shifty, troublesome teen years. It was all too easy for Judith to jab the pin into the lock on her ankle and click it open.

Letting it clunk to the ground, Judith looked over at the still snoozing Faith. Not twitching a tick.

Fishing out the second and third thing she’d found in the drawer, Judith hastily started writing. Chewed on pen scribbling across the age-faded notebook. A short note.

“I’m sorry. I had to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A hefty chapter! It's rough balancing Judith's want to be a good cop and being a hopeless romantic, I hope I'm getting the ratio right lmao.
> 
> In case anyone's interested I tried to start an ask/RP blog for Judith but so far nobody's interacted with it: [LINK](https://judithredfox.tumblr.com/)


	11. Stumbling Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this update took a while. I got a sudden promotion at work right before Black Friday week and I've been pretty stressed out since. I'm getting used to the workload now though so hopefully I'll get a lot done soon! Especially because I'm excited for New Dawn now too.

Pain. Jolting up her leg in sharp jabs and making her stumble roughly over the uneven ground.

Man, fuck Jacob and his stupid shitty mountains.

While she’d been in a comfortable haze in the cabin Faith had procured it wasn’t long after her jailbreak when she realized exactly how much of the edge that the bliss painkillers had been taking off.

A lot, it was a lot. Hit her like a freight train not long after hobbling to the Rye residence. Feeling like a jackass at Nick having to carry her to the borrowed room while Kim heckled her lightly.

Somehow Faith being quiet was even more unnerving than if she was here, throwing a tantrum.

Was this just… was it done? Was that going to be the last time she saw Faith?

Judith didn’t know how she felt about that. It was undeniable that she’d developed some sort of weird, twisted feelings for Faith but deep down she knew that it was probably for the best if that temptation was just gone from her life.

A pang of loss in her chest made guilt creep over her.

C’mon, stupid, just keep walking, you’ve got people to recruit.

Looking down at the list in her hand and the map on her phone, Judith hoped she was closer to the Hurk household than she thought she was.

But when she stepped into the opening and unfortunately came face-to-face with Hurk Sr. she kinda wished she was still back the Rye household, suggesting terrible baby names to Kim.

Hurk Jr. was much more palpable. Weird as shit, but palpable. Enough that she was willing to help him in efforts to try and recruit him. Plus this should be easy enough if they were just stealing back a car. Judith had stolen plenty of cars. Uh, while out in Hope County? Definitely not before. Definitely didn’t learn to hotwire a car in high school from a shitty ex. Certainly didn’t use that information to drive his car into a lake after he broke up with her in front of all their friends.

Look, there’s nothing you can prove and no one found the car so shut up!

Some idle chatter with Hurk while they drove over, the man instantly deciding she was the coolest, most badass person he’d ever met. Instantly drowning her in offers to hang out for some good old fashioned bro-tastic, redneck partying.

You know, chugging beers and then doing something dubiously safe.

A more tempting offer than it should be.

Acquiring the truck was easy enough, driving it out even more so as they narrowly avoiding plowing down a group of Peggies, but as they drove away the real threat manifested.

Twisting around to look behind them to see if the cultists had managed to catch up, Judith found herself face to face with the glaring visage of Faith. Leaning forward expectantly, unflinching, and apparently not needing to blink.

A sharp yelp nearly sent them off the road, Hurk correcting in time with a panicked, “Awww shit, they catchin’ up to us, man?!”

Dumbstruck, Judith just answered flatly despite the hallucination staring her down, “No, I just, uh, thought I saw something. Trick of the light.”

Relaxing his shoulders, Hurk smacked her in the side, “Don’t scare me like that, girl! Gonna go off the road and not in the fun muddin’ way. Oh man, we should go do that after we get the truck back!”

“Uh, maybe another time,” Judith replied to a childish whine, “Got a lot I have to do today.”

“Do you now?” Faith hissed, one foot ‘tapping’ on the floor.

Judith couldn’t reply directly and the woman knew that though, only able to awkwardly reply to her through replying to Hurk, “We’ll talk about it more later.”

“Awesome!” he fist pumped, “We’re gonna have a blast, man. When, uh, we get around to it. Eventually!”

“Is this really any better than staying with me?” Faith uncurled a hand to point accusatory at the happy redneck, “You do realize you’re stealing a truck for a bigoted asshole right? His dad?”

Judith curled back into her seat, still awkwardly circumventing the conversation barrier, “Just… have to do things I don’t want to do sometimes to get to what I do want to do.”

“Hey, good on you, man. I always been shit at doing my responsibles,” Hurk reached over and ruffled Judith’s hair hard enough to jostle her entire body. Unaware of the disgusted look crinkling up the face of the illusion behind them.

“Speaking of wanting to do,” Faith’s tone sharpened even more, a point jabbing into the back of Judith’s head as she looked forward, “Did you leave because I wouldn’t have sex with you?”

“No!” Judith jumped, looking back again, “Of course not!”

“Dang girl, take a compliment,” Hurk looked back as well, nearly jumping the truck over an edge, “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“Just… a little rattled,” Judith replied, settling back into her seat to avoid the judgemental and disbelieving stares of Faith, “I’m gonna go for a walk after we drop the car off. Need to clear my head.”

“Sounds good, amiga,” Hurk pointed at her, “I ain’t forgettin’ about the hangin’ out some day though. Got a mind like a bear trap, nothin’ gets out. Except bears sometimes, ironically.”

“Look, I’ve known you for all of maybe an hour and I can tell that’s a bald faced lie.”

Hurk looked offended for a split second before nodding and shrugging, “I’d say that’s mean but it’s just a fair excessment.”

“More than fair…” Faith grumbled in the backseat.

\- - -

Waving goodbye to Hurk, Judith looked down at her map. It was a decent walk to her next destination, going right from the father to the mother, Adelaide Drubman.

But this wasn’t going to be a peaceful walk if the vision sitting on a tree branch had anything to say about it. Legs swinging as she scrutinized Judith walking underneath, “Why DID you leave, then? Or are you lying? You’ve certainly proven that you’re not the most loyal or trustworthy...”

Of course she hadn’t given up, why would she?

Sighing Judith kept marching along, awkwardly hiking towards her goal, “I’m not a scumbag like that it’s just… when you weren’t awake and talking to me it just left me with my thoughts…”

“And you could just look at my sleeping face and decide to leave?” Faith kept flickering ahead, seeming angrier each time. Knowing unnatural movement only made her more threatening.

“More like ‘looked over at the picture with all the cult leaders sitting on the side table and decided to leave’.”

“You know you can’t have me without my family, right?”

“And that right there is why I left.”

That caused Faith to pause her flickering ahead, just enough to watch Judith pass, “So you left… because of my brothers?”

“Look, I’ve been pretty fucking open about the whole ‘cult’ thing being a sticking point,” Judith avoided her eye, “I mean, your involvement isn’t ideal either but the fact you’ve stuck by them as they’ve started this whole… what are you guys calling it again?”

“The Great Collapse?”

“No, no, the thing Joseph was yelling about… somehow even more ominous sounding…”

“The Reaping?”

Judith snapped her fingers, “Yeah, that crazy thing. You realize that’s evil, right? Like, as far as I understand it, your guys are just out killing anyone not wearing a Peggie uniform?”

Shifting her eyes away, Faith mumbled back, “It’s just… a last ditch effort to get as many people in as possible.”

“Whether they want to or not?”

“Yes… when they won’t take the carrot, you must use the stick.”

“Well, I’ve got another stick, specifically a police baton and I’m supposed to be using it,” Judith replied, “Metaphorically at least, our departments never been big on the whole hand-to-hand combat thing.”

“Just guns?” Faith accused.

“Hey man, I just watched your brother flailing an AK-47 over his head yelling about killing people en masse so you have zero room to talk.”

“I’ve never held a gun in my life,” Faith boasted, walking alongside Judith now but no less angry.

“Faith, I don’t wanna be going around in circles like this,” Judith shook her head, stepping up on a log and nearly falling on the downswing. Giving up and sitting on it with a groan. God, her fucking leg hurt.

“Well if you would just suck up your misplaced pride and come home…” Faith softened her voice, floating close and pointing back towards the Henbane, “You’re limping, your leg clearly still hurts and you know I can help you with that. As insulted as I am… I can forgive you. The Father always tells us that forgiveness is always necessary and you’re just confused and scared. Let me help you.”

“I’m not confused and I’m not scared,” Judith winced, unable to deny the other fact, “If anything the pain only makes me more focused. We can’t do this, Faith.”

“What are you saying?” Faith narrowed her eyes, closer but much less gently this time.

Judith sighed, the Drubman Marina peeking through the trees, closer than she thought, “Look, I have to go and collect another person. Just… just go, alright?”

“I’m not done talking to you! Not by a long shot!!” Faith appeared inches from her face only to dissipate into the swirling green smoke as Judith stepped through her. Flinching as the mist wafted around her, flowing around her uncomfortably.

Shaking her head, Judith tried not to think about it.

Clearing the marina wasn’t even remotely a problem, the small outcropping of cultists only able to maintain their hold on the place due to there being no one else with a gun and determination to give them a hassle.

Thankfully for the citizens holed up there, Judith was exactly that.

Faith lurked, sitting on a rooftop after reforming. Swinging her legs as she glared down at Judith with judgemental glares.

Judith didn’t know why this was even continuing. When she’d left the cabin that day she’d honestly thought it would have stopped. But even now, even as Judith directly was kicking walls into the Project’s plans, Faith was here. Watching. Waiting. Even though she wasn’t saying a word, her glare screamed that she wasn’t done talking about all this.

Jostled by the jubilant rednecks around her, Judith just found herself staring up at her mental captor.

But she wasn’t given too much time to stare up at the angry angel above when the older woman lazily sauntered up to her, a hard slap on the ass bringing her back to the normal world.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she purred, curling against Judith’s side making Faith grimace in disgust at her, “You’re that cop going around givin’ the Peggies a real pounding, aren’t you?”

“My reputation precedes me,” Judith replied, holstering her gun and extending her hand to the side to shake the woman’s, “Judith Redfox.”

“Already knew that,” she laughed grabbing the hand and gripping it tightly, “Adelaide Drubman. Which I think you already knew too. Formalities and all that dumb shit.”

“Checking off my list from Dutch,” Judith patted her pocket, “Heard you were someone who’d be a damned good help to me and the resistance. Heard Pastor Jerome say you’d be a good one to pick up too.”

“Aww, Pastor Jerome said that? If only he wasn’t a man of the cloth, am I right?” she cackled, another slap on the back nearly making Judith cough by the sheer force of it, “Sometimes it feels like the cute ones are always off limits.”

Faith sceptically circling them, Judith chose her words carefully, “Boy, do I, uh, know about that.”

Adelaide seemed delighted by that, smile crinkling up her eyes as she started traipsing towards the edge of her property and towards what looked like a landing pad, “You ever have to arrest someone who you thought was so cute you didn’t wanna? Imagine havin’ to use handcuffs while on the clock gets confusin’.”

Laughing nervously at the fact someone who matched that definition was eyeballing the two of them critically, “Maybe. Also bold assumption that my work equipment has been used for less than respectable purposes.”

“If you ain’t used them for sex I’ll eat my hat.”

“You’re not wearing a hat.”

“My bandana then,” Adelaide stopped on the center of the pad, giving Judith a look, “Either way, either you’ve put ‘em on someone or someone’s put ‘em on you. I’d bet anything on that.”

“Have you?” Faith chimed in, her tone unreadable but if Judith didn’t know better… intrigued. A small break from the anger she’d been radiating since reappearing.

Judith decided to take a gamble on that, “Maybe you’re right. On both counts.”

A raise of the eyebrows from Faith, looking torn somewhere between cautiously curious and annoyed.

Clapping her hands, Adelaide beamed, “A good old fashioned switch! Whoever’s got you in their pocket’s a lucky, lucky… man? Woman? No offense, maybe offense, you look more like a… well...”

Judith flicked her eyes up at Faith for just a second before replying, “Maybe I had a girl in mind recently but uh, I don’t think it’s gonna work out for so, so many reasons.”

It looked like Faith had been punched in the chest. Apparently her starry eyed optimism extended beyond her blind belief in Joseph, having held out belief that Judith was just being “difficult” until this 

“So, that’s what you’re saying…” Faith mumbled, backing off a little, “Or… were saying…”

But she was cut off by the real world around her, disappearing in an oddly small and defeated puff of green.

Somehow, Judith felt like that really wasn’t the end of this though. If anything, a herald of dramatics to come, the woman most likely just waiting until Judith was alone to truly explode.

“That’s a shame, cute thing like you deserves someone equally cute hangin’ off ‘em. Kinda like I am now ‘cept I’m taken. Right now my main squeeze is that little piece of heaven over there,” Adelaide looked back and pointed at a significantly younger man doing yoga in the distance before shouting to him, “XANDER. SAY HI, SWEETHEART.”

‘Xander’s head jerked up at an angle that Judith would have previously thought impossible, given the pose. But he just waved excitedly, nearly dropping himself onto his face, eager to please his girlfriend.

Waving back Judith felt a bit more disappointment at Faith’s departure, a reminder she was alone, “He looks… nice.”

“Dumb as a doornail but he’s MY doornail,” Adelaide laughed, “You might not be able to tell considerin-”

“You know, for the record, not always just girls. Just kinda… little more often.”

“Ah, a bit of both? ‘Cept, you know, men are annoying. Unfortunately, men catch my eye a bit more often but sometimes a cute little lady can get my attention. So, what do you think of my Xander then?”

“Alarmingly flexible,” Judith replied, “Not really my type though. Too… fancy. East coast?”

“Southern California, yeah, came here, became mine. Good thing you don’t like him though, I don’t much like competition and you’d be the stiffest. You could nearly get anyone in all of Hope County on your arm in a heartbeat. Everyone’s callin’ you a hero. Speakin’ of, Miss Bigshot, You want to help a pretty girl get her chopper back?”

“I think I could make some time in my day for that.”

\- - -

For a while, Judith was completely free of Faith watching her. Just high above the mountains and trees, riding in a helicopter again with her new friend. Probably a good thing considering Adelaide seemed to be pretty set on hitting on her, making it abundantly clear that her relationship with Xander was a very open one.

Honestly, Judith almost asked Adelaide to come with her for the last leg of today’s help-a-palooza because damned if she wasn’t enjoying some good old fashioned baggage-less attention but Faith was already angry enough wherever she was lurking. Last thing she needed right now was another woman walking around and flirting with her while a cultist drug fantasy waits for an opportunity to pounce on her.

God, being in a position where she can’t even enjoy a good ole fashioned MILF hitting on her. What a weird and miserable place she finds herself.

But waving goodbye to a grateful Adelaide, Judith had to be lost in her thoughts again.

Even as she started wandering back into the Henbane she still found herself alone.

Maybe this actually was the end… a bit surprised that someone like Faith would be so ready to give up so early but she felt so unsure in everything since this all collapsed in on her.

Despite the fact she knew she should be relieved, Juith felt… disappointed? Lonely? Sad?

Either way there was a weird pit lodged firmly in her gut that just wasn’t going away no matter how many times she drove into her own head that this is for the best.

Thankfully, the next distraction was a loud one. Seeing fire before the source, she followed until she found the next person on her list. Charlemagne “Sharky” Boshaw. Cousin of Hurk, nephew of Adelaide.

Given the flamethrower and the blaring disco music, Judith could see the family resemblance.

He stopped only when she climbed up on top of the trailer home with him, jolting at Judith approaching in her uniform, “You’ll never take me alive!!”

“Not here to do that,” Judith waved the piece of paper with Dutch’s writing on it, “Just tryin’ to get ahold of all the people Dutch directed me to.”

“Oh shit,” Sharky took the piece of paper with a wide smile, unconcerned by the licks of flames still flickering around him, “I’m a Hope County V.I.P.? Shit man, Jess would strangle me with her bare hands if she saw her name next to mine.”

“Make sure Jess never gets a good look at the list, got it,” Judith plucked it back before folding it back into her pocket, “Mostly because I genuinely believe the whole ‘strangling’ thing.”

“So, I take it you met her then? Yeah, she hates me.”

“She’s intense, that’s for sure. I can appreciate it but uh, can also see where the reasonable fear is from.”

“But hey- if you’re my friend, then I’m safe right? Nobody’s gonna mess with the hero cop, right?” Sharky elbowed her in the side, grinning, “And uh, hero cop’s not gonna mess with me right? I’m definitely not setting angels on fire for fun. Unless you wanna join in. In which case, I am, and have extra molotovs but it’s BYOF. Bring your own flamethrower. I’ve just got the one.”

“Setting people on fire is your idea of fun? Frankly, that’s scarier to me than anything Jess is doing.”

“Just angels! And if I grill ‘em that one less angel tryin’ to bash in the skull of some defenseless like… innocent… uhm… well, shit, there ain’t a lot of people who can’t defend themselves left in Hope County?”

“Nope but I guess I see your side of things,” Judith looked at a herd of the angels passing nearby, “Considering I’m one of their prime shovel-to-the-head candidates.”

“See? I’m helping!”

“I suppose helping thin out the angels isn’t the worst thing I could do.”

“There! You get it!” he grabbed her wrist and popped a molotovs in her hand, “It’ll be fun I promise. Go hit the speaker, can’t do it without my jams!”

Nodding, Judith climbed back down. Wincing as she touched down on the ground again, her leg still killing her. Despite the long term help, doing this was uh, going to hurt. Maybe after this she could just head back to the Ryes again, they’d let her crash in their spare room again and heal up a bit. Hell, she’d done a hell of a lot today, might as well let herself relax. They told her to come back whenever she wants.

With Faith gone, maybe she’d sleep a bit better.

But as Judith approached the button that looked like it wasn’t going to be true.

Looking out beyond the ruined trailer park she could see Faith lurking at the end of the woods. Green mist gently wafting around her as she silently watched from a distance. The angels shambling around her, almost as if they could sense her presence too. Empty eyes looking around, hands reaching out to touch something intangible.

Heart sinking into her stomach, the scene looked like something out of a horror film.

Faith didn’t look angry but the dead neutral was still a bit daunting, eyes just following Judith’s every move expectantly.

Suddenly Judith was very, very acutely aware of exactly what she’d just committed to doing.

But as disco music started blaring over the sound system, the angel’s adoring gaze from their invisible idol to the now very guilt wracked Judith.

This was going to be awkward.

\- - -

They didn’t scream. Of all the things Judith braced herself for, it wasn’t the silence. Mouths clamped shut behind the medical masks covering their faces.

She tried to be quick, making their suffering as temporary as possible but given her companion… well, Sharky was less than concerned about that. Hooting loudly as the flames engulfed the area.

Judith did everything in her power not to look up towards the treeline. Not wanting to make eye contact with Faith who was undoubtedly still watching. Waiting.

Returning to Sharky, she found him excitedly dancing and proclaiming her his new best friend. Eager to help her in any way possible. Just as with the others, she just nodded it off with the promise to call him should she need him and him promising in return to help as many people as he can on his own.

At that, she climbed down from the trailer park roof again. Suppressing a yelp at the pain in her leg as she walked straight legged towards one of the abandoned ATVs and swinging a leg over it.

If she kept moving, she wouldn’t have to address Faith. At least not here with the smouldering corpses littered around her with the music still blaring in the distance. The sound of Sharky loudly and badly singing along with it.

Kicking it off and ripping off through the woods, drenched in the sunset light, Judith made her way back towards the Rye residence.

Nearly crashing the damn thing at Faith’s words right in her ear.

“Are you proud of yourself?”


	12. Pride Comes Before A Fall

“Are you listening to me?” Faith repeated herself, “Are you proud of yourself? Burning all those people to death?”

Judith tried to stay quiet still, Rye residence still in the near distance. Part of her wishing she’d stayed there if only because Faith was quieter when Judith is around other people. Also not only that because Nick and Kim were very eager to treat her like family.

That was nice. Pretending to be a part of a family instead of chasing a cultist.

But the cultist was persistent, stepping in front of her and asking again, “Judith. Are you proud of yourself?”

Groaning, a hand clawed through her thick, black hair, Judith answered, “No, Faith. I’m not proud of myself.”

“And yet, here you are, going to do some other horrible thing!” Faith aggressively waving a hand at the distance, “Liberating the jail, more like plowing through more droves of innocent believers! Even more than usual, Joseph’s already sent more to try and deal with you.”

That was the downside to Faith’s constant presence. She, and by extent, the whole cult knows exactly where Judith is going and what she’s doing at any given point in time.

Furrowing her brows, Judith only stomped over to the previously acquired ATV and swung a leg over.

But moving quickly didn’t stop Faith, perching on the back, just barely not touching Judith to keep herself from being burst into smoke again. Trying a different approach, she let her voice grow soft, “It’s dangerous for you too, you know.”

“Faith, I told you this is over,” Judith growled, unflinching at the crash of crunching branches around her as she plunged into the treeline again.

Lip curling in disgust, Faith forced her voice to stay calm, “I don’t believe you.”

“You can believe your crazy brother’s doomsday cult but not someone saying they don’t want to be romantically entangled with you?”

A further curl, “You’re self destructive. You need help and I’m here to try and do just that.”

“I’m not self destructive,” Judith wavered, “Just make some questionable choices sometimes.”

“You can say that again…” Faith mumbled.

“But this? This is a bad decision. You and me, I can recognize that.”

“Thanks,” she hissed back, “That feels great.”

“Look, I like you,” Judith sighed, not looking back as she burst from the forest and into an open area with the jail in the near distance, “But liking a nice, pretty girl isn’t a good enough reason to not do my job which is to protect as many people as possible. You and your brothers are the ones hurting people.”

While Faith had taken a moment to grin at the beginning of that she was back to angry by the end, “I just watched you, with one of these supposed innocents, burn a bunch of angels to death.”

“Watched us burn a bunch of mindless, drugged up slaves that attack anyone they see by beating them to death with farming tools?”

“I’m in perfect control of the angels.”

“Really? Because I’ve watched them do some really heinous shit.”

Faith got quiet at that, “Well, I… they…”

Swinging her leg off the ATV, Judith began creeping towards the jail. Faltering only slightly as she crouched, her ankle down to a dull throb but ignorable now. Surrounded by angry Peggies but not giving up the fight, going to be receiving the best help possible. An unstoppable force named Judith Redfox.

But for right now she paused to talk to the faltering cultist following her, looking towards the enemies and getting her sniper rifle ready.

“If you actually take some blame for all this, I’d be amazed. Impressed even. Literally any acknowledgement that what’s going on here is fucked up and that you yourself have had a hand in it,” Judith pointed at her, “You asked me if I was proud of what I did to those angels but are you proud of the fact you made them into that? Mindless killing machines?”

“They’re not-”

“Faith, I nearly took a hoe to the head from one of them once. I hadn’t even done anything, I was just trying to tie my boots.”

“Well... they’re… I’m… the existence of the angels is… an unpleasant side effect of the bliss that I’m just trying to make the best of. They kind of listen to me, if I’m around. But if I’m not, they run wild.”

Twisting her hands, she waited for Judith’s reaction to that. Relaxing only at the nod, Judith looking back, “There. Was that really so hard? Accepting literally any responsibility for all this? We’re residing in a horrible place, we’re both doing bad things. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to lengthen both sides of my list at once.”

Before Faith could reply, Judith whipped the sniper rifle up and the shot rang loudly through the air.

Sometime soon Judith knew she should invest in a silencer but honestly she was still reeling at the fact that the people here wouldn’t just give her whatever weaponry she could ever want for free.

But for now, piercing gunshots it was.

\- - -

It made Judith uneasy to have Faith watch her plow down Peggies but the woman persisted. From a distance, sitting on the roof of the jail and looking down at her. A constant distraction just above her eyeline whenever she had to turn around.

The distance was most likely to remain unpoofed but the lofty and ominous feel that it left Judith with was no doubt an enjoyed side effect.

But as the dust settled, Faith slithered down by the rest of the riff raff. Still high enough to avoid the crowd. Eyeing Judith curiously as the woman slammed into an old man hard enough to knock his hat off. Faith knew enough to know that was the only missing cop- Sheriff Whitehorse.

“Oof, I’m happy to see you too,” he grunted out, patting her back as she burrowed into his chest, “But you’re going to cut off circulation. To everything.”

Letting go, Judith still kept an arm lifted up around his shoulders, “Man, I’m just really, really happy to see one of you guys not, like, bound and gagged.”

“You think one of these folks would be the one to take me down?” Whitehorse laughed, nudging the corpse of one of the few Peggies to make it over the wall, “You know, I nearly retired last year. Thought I’d get bored. Now I’m here. Guess I ain’t bored at least.”

Pulling Judith along, into the jail, it was evident Whitehorse was still in his element. Distracted for a second, he called out to someone carrying an injured resistance member. His order followed but not without some cuss words from a young, angry woman. She was equally dismissive of the other old man, only Judith pausing by him long enough for him to reach out and pin something on her shirt.

Hope County Cougars. Alright. No idea what that is or why but alright.

Only when the door closed behind them did Whitehorse allow himself to sit down, groaning as he relaxed into the office chair, “Making me feel my age…”

“Can’t relate, am exhausted though,” Judith hopped up on the desk. She watched as Faith walked around, curiously examining the man.

“You damn well better be, you’re the only one I’ve heard anything about. You’re really making a splash here, ain’t ya? Never were a subtle girl,” Whitehorse chuckled before going grim, tapping his badge, “Have you seen any of the others? I don’t… I don’t even know if any of the rest of you kids are even alive…”

“Everyone survived the helicopter crash,” Judith gave her only good news, “Hudson is being held captive by John Seed and Pratt’s held by Jacob Seed. I haven’t seen Burke yet since we got separated.”

“He’s with me,” Faith unhelpfully added, Judith not being able to do anymore than look at her with disappointment.

“Captive… not great but they’re… they’re alive at least,” Whitehorse nodded, unaware that they had an audience.

“I only saw Hudson through a TV screen so far, she’s fucked up but as long as I get her out fast enough… well, she’s tough, she’ll recover, “ Judith sighed, “Pratt’s fucked up though. Real fucked up. He’s lived a relatively cushy life. Easy childhood, parents funded him through college, worst thing to happen to him on the job is he dropped a donut in a mud puddle...”

“You damn kids and the donuts,” Whitehorse shook his head, “Why always the donuts?”

“Just tradition. Box of donuts, aviators, blaring ‘Bad Boys’ out the window. Call ‘em ‘Stereotype Nights’.”

“You know things like that are why I avoid having you two on patrol together, right?”

“I thought that was because I let Pratt taser me once.”

“No, that’s why we don’t let you guys be the ones to go to Career Day at High Schools anymore.”

“Hey, say what you will, there were double the number of sign ups to shadow us that year. If anything, you should let me and Pratt run that event every time. Hudson and Burke bombed next year. Had like one kid sign up and had five ask where me and Pratt were.”

“What exactly was your plan to follow up that year?”

“Pratt said I could pepper spray him in the face.”

“And that’s why we don’t let you present to kids anymore.”

Faith looked hungry for more, pacing around them both with an insistent stare that Judith took to mean ‘leave so we can talk.’ Previous anger melting away to that same playful curiosity from before.

So she really, really wasn’t taking “this is over” as an answer, was she?

“On a darker and less stupid note, if you can get any information on Burke…” Whitehorse tapped on the desk, “I’d like to at least know he’s alive, maybe something about his status.”

“Alive and well,” Faith answered. The look on her face implied that she wanted Judith to relay that information but it’s not like she could.

“I’ve got to head out anyways, I’ll try to find out more about him.”

“The others too,” Whitehorse nodded, “The faster you can get everyone out, the better I’ll feel.”

Giving him another tight hug, Judith nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will, I’m proud of you.”

“Aw jeez, we going to get sappy now? Alright, Sheriff Whitedad, let me get back out there.”

After she jogged out, door slamming behind her, Whitehorse sighed and ran his hand through the remainder of his hair. If anyone could do it, it would be Judith, but damned if he didn’t want her to just stay here where it’s safe.

\- - -

One thing Judith could get used to around here was the sheer adulation she received everywhere she went. On the way out of the jail she had every single person turning their head to congratulate her or tell her how awesome she is. Could get a big head that way.

If not for the sight of Faith looming in the distance by the door, Judith would have just stayed in here a little bit longer. Really relish in this.

But if she dawdled, eventually Faith’s disposition would sour.

However, having Judith obediently walk right out only improved it.

Her mind was on less pleasant thoughts though, still fairly set on trying to cut this off. She’s thought before that the Seed family as a whole was stage five clingers but turns out Faith is a stage six. You know, the kind where if this was the normal world she’d be following Judith home so she could send her flowers the next morning.

Except, unlike most stalkers, Faith was not the usual type of threatening. Nearly skipping cheerfully next to her and looking over adoringly.

In a normal world, Judith loved a good starry eyed adorer.

But in a normal world, that starry eyed adorer is usually someone who just watched her do something heroic on the job.

Like, you know, rescuing a cat or helping an old lady.

Yeah, most of Hope County isn’t nearly as exciting and dangerous as this particular valley.

Man, why couldn’t Faith just be some… daughter of a respectable family who runs a small business nearby. Maybe cultivating plants for the local region, typically medicinal ones. Maybe had some troubles when she was young but has it together now. Maybe even had to change her name to get a new start, make her own family after her own abandoning her. Pick up some new hobbies. Maybe gardening, go for some nature walks, join a church.

Huh, wait, why does that sound so familiar?

“Did you really let your friend taser you?” Faith grinned, “Taking roughhousing a bit far, isn’t that?”

Looking around, Judith realized she’d subconsciously wandered after Faith out far past the jail. Watching the woman flick ahead in increments of twenty feet or so. Like following a trail of candy. Gazing out, she had to admit the Henbane was a unique place. Traits of both the Whitetail Mountains and Holland Valley. Lots of greens but also lots of rocks.

Looking back at Faith, the woman seemed a good physical approximation of that. An upbeat, cheerful woman, unfortunately lodged in the dodgy business of the cult.

Somehow, entirely happy to see her and hear about her escapades in electricity with her fellow idiot.

“You don’t exactly look like that’s off putting to you.”

“I think it’s cute,” she curled her fingers together behind her back.

“You think it’s cute that I let Pratt taser me in front of a group of teens?”

“You were having fun,” Faith looked skyward, gesturing for Judith to follow her, “I like seeing you have fun, wish I could more.”

“Yeah the whole cult full of guns really puts a damper on my whole ability to kick back and enjoy myself to the fullest extent.”

“If you’d come back to me, you could always be quite a bit more comfortable,” Faith added, knowing the answer would be no, “Your leg is looking a lot better but I have plenty of brothers to roughhouse with.”

“No offense but if any of your brothers came into physical contact with me, I’d totally flip my shit. Also I’m pretty sure like two of three of them are prone to stabbing so that’s only souring the pot more.”

“They’re… that is perhaps a fair assessment. But I know you’d love my brothers if you’d just get to talk with them in a neutral environment.”

“I’m enjoying this new, kinda accepts responsibility for her and her brother’s actions Faith. Not crazy about the insistence that I’ll love them anyways.”

Her brow furrowed tightly, “You’re frustrating.”

“I sure am,” Judith sighed, thinking about her attempt to end this being so thoroughly ignored. Seemed the both of them could be. Sighing, Judith asked, “Why do you even like me?”

Stopping in her tracks made Judith stop too, arms crossing as she looked at the very befuddled Faith tilting her head at her, “Why do I like you?”

“Yeah,” Judith raised her hands, letting them pat back against her thighs again, “Why? I mean, you’re the cult darling, right? Surely you’ve got more potential suitors than you’d know what to do with. Hell, you could have a stable of sister wives, cults love that shit. Why pick the frustrating, stubborn police officer sent to arrest you and your family?”

Faith pursed her lips, rocking on her heels for a little bit before responding, “I can’t control you. You’re an outside force, rowdy and tough.”

“What, so you like that I put up a fight?”

“Well… if you were someone in the cult you’d just… blindly do whatever I say. If I so much as implied ‘I want a relationship’ you’re show up with a bouquet and an engagement ring. Even if they didn’t want to.”

Judith brushed some of her hair out of her face, “So, I’m just the one who has free will.”

“You’re not the only option, of course,” Faith shook her head, “Don’t take it as a ‘last woman in Hope County’ thing. Wouldn’t be wasting my time if you weren’t an interesting person. Not to mention, you surely know you’re charming.”

“I mean,” a goofy grin and a wiggle of her head, “If you insist.”

Whiffing a hand at her, Faith clicked her tongue, “Now you’re just being prideful.”

“Alright, Miss I-Don’t-Want-Control,” Judith tilted her head, “Then why do you want me in your cult so bad?”

“Not a cult and because I know you won’t blindly listen to whatever I say now.”

“And why would you think I’d join up then?”

Faith just raised a finger to her lips and poofed away again. A whistle behind her let her know this wasn’t over though.

Turning around, Judith say Faith standing in the middle of a bliss field. Flowers up past her hemline, swaying gently in the breeze. The woman holding a hand out and gesturing for Judith to come to her with a serene smile on her face.

Not entirely sure what was compelling her to, Judith complied.

Most of the time she avoided wandering into the Bliss fields. Hated the effect, leaving her groggy and sick. This time was no better and, in fact, seemed worse than ever. Every step towards Faith threatening to send her falling over. Why was this so bad?

The image of Faith in front of her distorting, she spoke, “Let me show you.”

Reaching her own hand out instinctively, Judith was about to pull it back before stumbling to her knees in front of Faith. Looking up at her helplessly.

For a split second, Judith felt absolute clarity again as she watched Faith drop down to her level on the ground and gently cup her face with her very real, very obviously flesh-and-blood hands. Pulling her closer into a kiss that returned her back into the haze.

Actually, more than that. Not in the fun, cute romantic way.

Head drowning, vision blurring, Judith managed to weakly push Faith away but it was too late.

Inhaling and exhaling, green mist billowed from Faith’s mouth as she gazed lovingly at Judith as she slipped further and further away. Eventually collapsing into the dirt below, bliss petals falling around her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to look up what a conservatory is for this chapter because i'm dumb


	13. A Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this is a HEFTY chapter. Sorry for the delay, I've mostly been working on some original writing but hope to get steam going on this as well. I've decided to stick with one fic at a time for now so I'll be able to focus on this one a bit more.

Fading back in, Judith still felt the world swim. Her head resting on something soft and someone softly running their hands through her hair.

Even with her vision still wavering between blackened and foggy, Judith had a pretty good idea of who exactly the hands belonged to. Or, well, hoped was. Didn’t exactly like the idea of a stranger doing this to her.

Although considering Faith had just drugged her, maybe she wasn’t too crazy about the idea of being unconscious around her.

Blinking slower and slower, Judith finally got her eyes open only to find herself staring out at an unnatural and distorted version of the world. Sickly green and foggy. Blue butterflies floating past in weird clusters, swirling in the non-existent breeze.

“You’re up,” Faith gently nudged Judith’s head up to look at her, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Where are… where are we?” Judith muttered, vertigo making her mind spin as she slowly dragged her eyes up to Faith. Looking around growing stomach churning.

“I’ve brought you to the bliss,” Faith replied, acting like that sentence made literally any sense, “I can do things here, things I can’t in the real world. Here I can talk to you, show you, help you.”

“Can you help me not feel like I’m dying?” Judith coughed, arms moving up unbelievably slow to rub at her eyes, “I don’t… augh, why?”

Laughing Faith just kept combing her hands through Judith’s hair, “You’ll get used to it in a little bit, it works faster if you don’t fight it.”

Judith pulled a face at that but as another wave of nausea hit her she reluctantly complied. Closing her eyes again, trying to relax against all odds.

“That’s it,” Faith cooed, hand sliding down to rub at Judith’s shoulder, “Nice, deep breaths. Keep relaxing your muscles. ”

With a heavy sigh, Judith opened her eyes again. Motion sickness quickly melting away.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Judith accused, trying to disregard how fucking weird this whole business is.

Seemingly uncaring or unaware of the implications of that statement, Faith merely kissed Judith on the forehead, “This is the best way to make you understand. You’ll understand after this, I feel, and if you do… well, I have something very special planned for you.”

Somehow, Judith had a feeling that that ‘something very special” wasn’t exactly going to be something that she wanted to happen.

“You know, there’s better ways to talk to someone than drugging them so hard they’re tripping a whole psychedelic forest, right?”

Faith’s grin darkened, eyes glinting a bit, “I tried that, you ran away.”

“You chained me to a bed,” Judith tried to push herself up but only found herself pulled back down as if her sluggish body was weighless, “I wouldn’t exactly call them a better way to talk.”

“Then what is?”

“You could just, like, walk up and talk to me.”

Faith looked like Judith had just suggested that she simply grow a second head for better communication instead of, you know, doing the most reasonable thing. She shook it off, “Well, what’s in the past is in the past, you’re here now and we’re alone. We can talk. I just wanted to tell you something, tell you a story.”

“Alright,” Judith gave up, not like she was going anywhere any time soon.

Propping her up like a little girl and her doll, Faith holding onto Judith’s hands as she looked into her eyes, “Once, I was alone. Reject by my community, bullied by my friends, abused by my family.”

Cringing hard at that, Faith’s grip on her hands communicated all it needed to about the unspoken, horrific details. For once, Judith stayed quiet merely squeezing back. For a split second, Faith looking up with a surprisingly warm and genuine look before starting to wilt again. Eyes closing, the next part a bit harder to admit to.

“I turned to a needle for comfort. I was all alone,” Faith continued reluctantly, “I… wanted to die.”

An absolute refusal to look up at her, eyes downcast before closing. Hands still latched tightly onto Judith’s, as she gently pulled them to her lap. Faith not resisting, ghost of a smile on her face at the touch of affection.

It only widened into a more open smile as Faith looked back up, eyes sparkling, “And then I met the Father.”

Abruptly, Faith leapt to her feet, dragging a weightless and dizzy Judith behind her as she ran. Disoriented, Judith nearly crashed into Faith as she stopped just as short. Looking up at the statue of the father looming over them. Man, Judith didn’t like looking at that creepy thing.

“He gave me hope and confidence. He showed me how special I could be, how loved I could be. A new family, one that accepted me the way I am.”

Wait… new family… Faith’s not-

“I no longer wished to die,” Faith kept going, unheeding of Judith’s attempts to think through the fog of the bliss. In fact, destroying any semblance of outside thought, Faith let go of Judith’s hand and stepped back with her arms out wide, “I was given a purpose.”

Arm raised defensively, Judith watched as two misty, white wings burst from Faith’s back. Watching her rise up was only intimidating, Judith having only seen her do something similar in a state of absolute rage.

Also, that had been an apparition. This? That was a physical Faith, in some capacity. Where… where were they, really?

Once again, she wasn’t given room to think as Faith grabbed her hands again and, alarmingly, lifted Judith into the air with her. Looking down, even more horrifyingly, Judith realized they were hundreds of feet off the ground.

Never before had Judith had such a fear of heights.

“One day, the Father brought me here,” Faith seemed unphased by all of this, normal as a walk in a park, “He asked if I had faith in him. He asked if I'd be willing to die for him.”

Opening her mouth for the first time, Judith found her words snatched away from her as they suddenly swooped away. Too fast, too close to the ground, too uneven. Her hand on Faith’s turning into a fear-fueled vice grip but she didn’t seem to mind as she continued her calm monologue, “I was scared, I wanted to live. He said this was my test, how could he have faith in me if I couldn’t have faith in him?”

As she swung them back up, Judith realized their destination.

The statue of the Father.

Hovering right over the book, Judith found herself oddly glad that the fall would only be about five feet. That’s survivable.

But Faith was asking for more.

“So she closed her eyes and leapt.”

Dropping down safely onto the book, Judith realized exactly what Faith meant.

Flapping the false wings, Faith floated away to benevolently watch over her. Not exactly comforting to Judith, even less so when she looked to the edge of the concrete book and realized they weren’t alone.

Judith’d known Burke for years but he’d never looked this unnervingly, fakely serene. For once in his life not having a scowl or a cocky smile on his face.

“Walk the path,” he said in voice almost not his own, hand extended to her for just a second before he turned with his arms outstretched and just… let himself tip over the edge.

Her scream was muffled in the mist as she stumbled to the edge. But when she looked down, she could see nothing but the seas of green below her. Leaving her hoping this wasn’t a real place, just a hallucination.

That feeling only doubled as it became obvious that her own only way out of this situation was to follow suit.

Faith expectantly watching her from air.

She didn’t want to do it but what other choice did she have?

Nervously standing back up, Judith took a deep breath and stepped over the edge.

\- - -

Hurtling towards the Earth seemed to take forever, Judith’s scream silent as she held her arms up to protect her face. Ceasing only when a sudden blackness slammed into her. Assuming she’d died, honestly.

But groggily, an unknown amount of time, Judith’s double vision told her she was back in the real world.

Surrounded by dead bodies.

Through the violently spinning, she frantically and with great difficulty scanned the faces for Burke but he wasn’t among them.

But looking around it was at least the real world. No more green haze coating the world, just rocks and trees. And blood. Lots of blood.

Unable to move as things started fading to dark again, she felt a sudden weight on her stomach. Rolling her head, Judith found her midsection being straddled by Faith looming over her. Long blonde hair hanging down over her face, tickling her cheeks.

Were they not surrounded by corpses, perhaps Judith could enjoy this a bit more.

Faith didn’t seem to mind though, leaning over even further to whisper to Judith, “I knew you could do it” before firmly planting a kiss on her lips.

This was cut short though, Faith’s head jerking up suddenly followed shortly by a quick scramble to get off of her.

Fading back in and out, Judith’s addled mind wasn’t entire sure what was going on with her world faded nearly back to black. But she could feel herself being picked up by someone much, much larger than Faith. Roughly and uncomfortably thrown over a shoulder, able to see nothing but a mottled green. Reeking of wet dog, blood and gunpowder.

It was almost a mercy to pass out again.

\- - -

Waking up, Judith was growing very, very tired of being transported all around Hope County while unconcious.

Hating her vision being blacked out, having to wait to come to to even be able to see where she was. This time it was taking quite a while, actually. She felt completely awake, acutely aware of her now frequent position of being tied to a chair.

Slowly it dawned on her through the adrenaline that it wasn’t her eyes that were keeping the world dark.

Blindfolded, she was blindfolded.

Jerking her head around, she listened. She could hear the sound of metal on wood and a clattering that sounded almost like… plates?

She wasn’t left in suspense for very long, hearing a lowkey annoyed man flatly call out, “Faith. She’s up.”

Barefeet padding excitedly on ground signaled Faith’s appearance in the room, reaching around and untying the offending piece of black cloth. Face too close to Judith as she flinched from the sudden light, another peck on the cheek, “Good evening!”

Looking around, Judith found herself in the dining room of what seemed to be a modestly sized cabin. Decorated with an uncomfortable amount of mounted and stuffed dead animals. She was sitting on one end of a long table, a half displayed dinner on it.

Directly across from her John sitting not unlike a Bond villain. Trying to not look like he was curious, pretending to be doing something on his phone. But he was curious, constantly peeking over it when he thought Judith wasn’t looking.

Seeing Joseph doing something as normal as setting a table was jarring to say the least. Potentially making up for the littlest brother obviously refusing to do any sort of manual labor here. Didn’t look like he cared though, his only source of annoyance being his free hand unconsciously tugging at an offending sleeve. Considering the state she’s mostly seen him in, didn’t seem like the man was terribly fond of clothing. Suddenly, Judith found herself pretty happy this wasn’t a nudist cult.

Stomping around was Jacob, looking particularly unhappy about this entire affair. There were any number of reasons why he could find this annoying. It was probably all of them. Judith was not only their enemy but one that directly hated him specifically. She had no doubt in her mind that the man had figured out that his unwilling subordinate was her best friend. Hell, last time she saw his phone his background photo was a picture of them together at a party.

Next to her, Faith smoothed down her hair, unperturbed by curiosity, preparations, or being angry. Happily cooing to her, “I’ve spent the whole day cooking for you.”

“How long was I out?” that made Judith asked, looking around for a clock that wasn’t there.

Patting her shoulder, Faith shook her head, “Don’t worry about that. Everything will be out soon, I hope you like it.”

Reaching down, she untied both of Judith’s wrists. Bold move considering both Joseph and the eating utensils he’d just placed in front of her were in grab-and-stab radius. Not looking to be beat to death with her legs tied to a chair though, she abstained.

Sitting next to her, Faith pulled her chair even closer to lean on the table and look dreamily at her.

Across the table a small scuffle rose up, John futilely trying to resist being dragged out of the head of the table by the back of his shirt by a blatantly uncaring Jacob. Unable to do much but claw at his older brother’s wrist futilely as he was roughly dethroned, “WHAT exactly do you think you’re DOING?”

“You ain’t sitting at the head of the table,” Jacob didn’t flinch as the heavy wooden chair was nearly knocked over as his youngest sibling was forcibly ejected from it.

“Just because this is YOUR hou-”

“Joseph sits at the head.”

Guiltily, John looked over at the middle brother. Relenting and letting Jacob unceremoniously dump him into the chair to Judith’s left like a misbehaving kitten. Looking back at the two women, searching for… judgement? Judith wasn’t entirely sure what reaction he was hoping for or possibly warning against. But given Faith’s reaction of a polite giggle behind her hand, it seemed to be acceptance as he went right back to a smarmy grin at that.

He did flinch a bit when Jacob sat down next to him though.

Settling into the reclaimed chair, Joseph immediately extended his hands which were grabbed by Jacob and Faith respectively. Genuinely a bit confused as Faith grabbed one of hers and even more confused as John grabbed the other one. The circle closing as Jacob accosted John’s other hand before he could jokingly pull it away. Each dropping their head like a group of robots being knocked offline.

“Our father, who art in heaven,” Joseph calmly droned on, “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.”

Right, prayer. Religious people do things like that. A weird cloying sense of not belonging settled in Judith’s gut, feeling acutely like an outsider. Should she just drop her head and play pretend? God, what do you even do in this situation.

But Joseph like the others wasn’t looking up, just continuing, “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Man, oh man, did that statement feel pointed, especially as Faith squeezed her hand tightly at that.

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil,” Joseph went along, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

A perfect chorus of ‘amen’s only made Judith feel weirder. Mercifully, they didn’t seem to notice that she hadn’t followed suit as they all raised their heads again. Sticking a knife into the sliced up meat in front of him and beginning to server, Jacob looked disgusted as John stabbed a large piece and tore into it like a barely domesticated animal. Stark in comparison to Joseph calmly cutting his food into pieces. Too small pieces, really.

Faith wasn’t too preoccupied with her brother’s array of manners, bad or good. Just looking expectantly at Judith, clearly waiting for somethi- oh right she made this food, eat the food, Judith.

Cutting off a reasonable piece, Judith took a bit. Thankfully, nothing to complain about, just letting her nod and honestly answer, “It’s good.”

Instantly Faith brightened up, “Good! I worked hard on it.”

“So, uh, any reason in particular I’ve been whisked away to the world’s most awkward dinner party ever?” Judith looked around the table to the group at large. Both happy, unhappy, and neutral to see her.

Actually, was he neutral? Joseph didn’t seem to show much emotion in general except for weird spikes. Maybe he was easier to read if you knew him but all Judith knows is that his dead stare unnerves her.

“I figured it was time for you to meet the family,” Faith said, patting her arm, “They’re just dying to get to know you ever since I told them about… you know… us.”

So they all knew. Not a surprising fact considering but an intimidating one nonetheless. Especially considering Judith had tried to break this off less than twenty-four hours ago.

Apparently Faith’s inability to take “no” for an answer is a lot worse than Judith thought.

The silence was deafening, only Faith looking hopeful about this endeavor but even her perfectly practiced smile started wilting at conversation didn’t break out. Only amplified as Judith just sort of shrugged mentally and started eating.

Tapping her fingers nervous on the table, Faith decided to be the one to break the awkward truce, “Did anyone do anything interesting today?”

“Well, got drugged, brought to a statue, got forced to jump off it, then got kidnapped to this really awkward dinner party so that’s a thing,” Judith replied to Faith’s annoyance, which only doubled down as a barely stifled snicker escaped from John.

“John, how about you?” Faith glared him down.

“Nothing much, nothing much,” John shrugged, “Did some work for the Project, went for a fly, picnic by the lake...“

“That sounds nice,” Faith clapped her hands together, “Maybe next time me and Judith can come with you.”

The look Judith and John exchanged was deeply questioning whether that was a good idea.

“Father?” Faith asked in turn, hoping to find something equally positive.

He looked almost surprised at being addressed, fork stabbed into a potato suspended below his unmoving face. Empty eyes actually looking thoughtful for once, looking down. His answer was equally uninteresting though, “I went about my daily duties. Morning prayer, breakfast, meeting with the congregation, oversaw choir practice, another congregation meeting. Now I’m here.”

Everyone looked a bit bored even listening to that. Even the cultists have to admit that the day-to-day isn’t exactly riveting.

“Jacob?” Faith practically begged for something interesting, something they could discuss.

“Just some reinforcement in my ranks,” Jacob replied, stabbing disinterestedly at meat but knowing exactly what he’s doing, “How’d your little friend even make it as a cop? Always folds like a pack of cards, real easy to make him cry.”

“Wow, this is fun,” Judith’s head jerked to Faith with a squinting, enraged smile, “Can this be done yet? Can you just knock me out and leave me in the forest? That’s what you’re all going to do eventually anyways. Can I just speedrun no-clip through this shitty interaction?”

John’s sharp bark of laughter was cut short by a punch to his arm and a stern bark of “Jacob!” form Joseph.

Faith tried to jerk this back to something good, “W-why don’t we talk about-”

“What, how everyone sitting here is holding my friends captive? Did you really think this was going to go well?” Judith asked, head sharply jabbing at the brothers.

“I… you… we…” Faith’s eye flicked between all of them, looking for purchase and finding none. Just two jeering brothers and a very, very annoyed Judith. Slowly collapsing in on herself, arms wrapping around themselves, Faith began to accept failure.

“Judith.”

Everyone jerked to attention at Joseph’s sudden cut through the silence. Instantly commandeering the room.

Faith sighed happily as he forcibly redirected the conversation, “Please, tell us about yourself.”

Trapped by the conventions of society, Judith felt compelled to answer but felt put pointedly on the spot, “I’m… a cop?”

John snickered but Joseph just raised a hand to silence him, “Why did you choose to become a cop?”

Faith was downright giddy that the Father’s steamrolling was working as Judith complied, “I was… I always thought I’d work on my family’s ranch but they gave it to my brother. Sister married someone at a nearby ranch, parents expected me to do the same but uh, didn’t want to. I wanted to be independant and uh, always was on the other side of the law so… maybe try being on the other side?”

“John has a ranch,” Joseph flatly noted, “You could help him if you want.”

“No offense but like... he’s got a rich person pseudo-ranch,” Judith pointed at John who could only really nod admittedly at that, “I mean like, horses and cows. Can’t have that there, he’s always flying planes around. You wanna give a horse anxiety? That’s how you give a horse anxiety.”

“There are plenty of ranches in Hope County, if you wa-”

“Please don’t commandeer some random family’s ranch for me, I don’t want that. I’m just a cop now. That’s what I do. Besides, I’m maybe not on like… the best of terms with my family but I can visit them if I want. I mean, I usually don’t want to but if I did.”

“Maybe I can come with you,” Faith grabbed Judith’s hand, starry eyed, “You’ve already met my family, maybe I could meet yours? Do you think they’d like me?”

The uncertain “uhhh…” instantly deflated that though.

Blowing back up only serenaded by more of John’s laughter as Faith seethed, “Why wouldn’t they like me?!”

“God, I knew I should have made popcorn,” Judith heard John mutter, delighted.

“I mean, you’re- it’s just that you’re-” she stuttered, panickedly looking from the enraged Faith to the amused John to the angry Jacob to the… well, frankly, Joseph still looked pretty serene. It wasn’t comforting to her though.

At the end, her very bad response was just a vague gestured at all of Faith.

That very, very much didn’t help.

When Faith stood up it was like a wave of green came from nowhere, almost seemingly to flow out of her. Emanating from her very core being.

For a second, Judith assumed this was merely a hallucination but as the sound of the heavy wooden chair hitting the ground alerted her to John scrambling to get away from the ticking smoke bomb going off. Jacob deigning to snatch up his panicking baby brother to help drag him away. Hell, even Joseph was tucking tail and escaping to a corner to get away from the creeping green. Covering his mouth and nose but not taking his dead eyed stare off them.

But that wasn’t her concern. That was the woman seething and seeping a noxious, sickly green. Slamming both hands on the rolling chair’s arms, face inches from Judith’s as she hissed quiet enough for only the two of them to hear, “Do YOU even like me?”

Judith wasn’t able to defend herself as the bizarre scene of the twisted family dinner started fading into black as the bliss made her slide down into a dead knock-out.


	14. Reflecting Realizations

Truly Judith was getting tired of waking up in strange, uncomfortable positions but this one was definitely a new one.

When she opened her eyes she first thought it was all a part of another hallucination. Seeing water sparkling far below her, birds flying between it and her. A boatful of Peggies zipping underneath, headed by one of those creepy fuckin’ priestesses.

But the metal digging into the side of her face let her quite painfully know that this was no hallucination.

Twisting around awkwardly into a sitting position, Judith was able to take a look around.

Hers wasn’t the only cage but the other two were empty. She could hear people in the distance, even see a few over the building but no one close to her except for a single Peggie guard.

The wild-eyed woman looked downright scared to see Judith upright. Gripping her gun tightly and backing away from the edge she’d been watching her from. Judith supposed that made sense, she HAD singlehanded shredded through countless of this woman’s compatriots with ease.

But right now she was in a cage without a gun, which certainly had defanged her a little.

Either way the woman turned around and walked briskly away, disappearing through a door.

Alright. Completely alone now.

Judith ran a hand back through her uncharacteristically greasy hair. Leaving her wishing she could just dive into the water below and clean off a bit. 

Well, her weird dinner with the Seeds had gone even worse than she could have imagined. Had she known about the whole shebang, at least. Mostly by her own bullheaded stupidity. Maybe words like ‘my family was never particularly jazzed about me dating women’ or, hell, even ‘don’t think mom and dad would be terribly crazy about me dating a cult leader’ would have been better than a vague, confused gesture to all of Faith.

But hell, that was it. Encapsulated both those points as well as a myriad of others. Given Faith’s absolute inability to leave her the fuck alone, Judith was confident that she could clarify that but… well, Faith didn’t terribly seem interested in listening to reason.

I mean, her reaction to Judith trying to break up with her was “drug her and bring her to my family.”

Her family. Left to her own devices for the first time since Faith told her her sad backstory Judith was left to ponder that.

Faith had revealed possibly a bit more than she’d intended to.

The Seeds weren’t her blood relatives.

Judith supposed that, in hindsight, that made sense. While the brothers, even Jacob, looked related, Faith had always been a bit different. Her face never looked like them and the blonde hair… Well, Judith was no genetics expert but with dark brown hair as the family norm and red hair as a recessive trait, it seemed improbable that there’d be a blonde sibling too.

Somehow, that made Faith’s place in the cult seem even stranger. Why had Joseph chosen her to take her on in such a major role?

Did they have a sister once? Did she die? Or was he replacing someone else?

Was he replacing his daughter?

Judith supposed that if she gets continually dragged to these family events, she’ll figure it out eventually. Unless Faith was actually done with her this time but given her doggedness so far… unless Judith got real insulting from here on out this just wasn’t going to end.

But she supposed that that wasn’t terribly an option right now. Mostly because she’s hanging in a cage but also because, well, Judith’s just not the sort to really break someone’s heart into pieces on purpose.

Teasing people, sure, but outright ripping their heart out and smashing it on the ground? Not her speed.

Right now, Judith just knew she had to play nice and get out of this cage.

Just had to wait for the woman to show u… or not, as Faith seemed to appear as if on cue. That same Peggie as before trailing after her, carrying a folding chair. Placing it down, she was dismissed with a nod from Faith before she gently sat on it. Crossing her legs, placing her hands on her lap, and looking out at Judith expectantly.

“Well?” she asked, after a pause, “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“What do you want me to say?” Judith replied, unable to stop from being at least a little bit combative.

Faith crinkled her nose at that but decided to pick her battles, “When you gestured at all of me…”

“I’d just told you my parents’ expectations. They wanted me to marry a big, tough male rancher from our area and pop out babies. I feel like it should be obvious that small, girl woman preacher from far away who I physically cannot produce a child with wouldn't exactly be something they’re into.”

“Surely there was a less rude way to put that,” Faith pouted, looking out at the river and mountains beyond Judith, “You humiliated me in front of every single one of my brothers at once. I’ve never felt more like an idiot in my life and I’ve done some stupid things in my past.”

“And you know what? I’m actually, genuinely sorry for that,” Judith offered up, “I won’t pretend I conducted myself well but… shit, don’t pretend you didn’t put me on the spot.”

“You’ve set the precedent that everything has to be sprung on you because you just won’t listen.”

“No, Faith, I’ve set the precedent of ‘I don’t want to do this’ and YOU’VE set the precedent of ‘I refuse to take no for an answer,’” Judith crawled to the edge of the cage to get closer to Faith as she accused her, “You don’t listen to anything I have to say. I mean, hell, I tried to break this off and your answer to that was to double kidnap me and force me to eat dinner with people who are holding my friends captive and torturing them. Even you’re doing that with Burke.”

“I am NOT torturing your friend,” Faith sniffed, “He’s happier than he’s ever been.”

“Ignoring the fact I think that’s bullshit, you’re dodging the bigger issue,” Judith smacked the bars,, “This is fucked, do you get that?”

“I’m just trying to save you.”

“And what if actually pushed with trying to save YOU?”

“But we’re-”

“You do know I don’t think you guys are good people, right? On a grander scale, objectively, the world doesn’t even think you’re the good guys. Like, us being here wasn’t some dodgy fucking powermove from the government or something. We actually have a reason to be stopping you guys.”

“You all simply refuse to open your eyes,” Faith’s hand curled tightly around the other, “Sometimes you must be forced to look at ugly truths, even if the method of getting you there isn’t so pleasant.”

“Faith, you put me in a cage,” Judith clanged a hand on the heavy bars, “And we’re on comparatively very good terms for a cop and cultist. Look at me and say this is reasonable.”

Sharply making eye contact, Faith nodded, “This is reasonable. You’re dangerous, Judith. For all my affections towards you I cannot ignore the fact you’re a force of nature. I’ve seen the clips, you know. You can tear through a whole fortress singlehanded. Take down people one by one, a silent killer. I’ll give you one thing… at least you don’t make them suffer.”

“Like you guys do?”

“We do no-”

“Faith, from where I’m sitting in a torture cage, I can literally see the word ‘Misery’ painted on this building. And from what I’ve heard, it really lives up to its name.”

“You always go off what you hear.”

“I can also see one of those grisly made up corpses hanging up there,” Judith nodded at it swaying in the breeze, “You make it yourself? I don’t think so. If I had to chance a guess, I’d say Lil’ Mister Stabs-A-Lot is more of a serial killer arts and crafts guy.”

“If you mean John perhaps you know my brothers a bit better than I thought,” Faith looked up at it, “Because he IS the one who makes them. Feels it redeems the dead of their sins, or so he says. I think he just always wanted to go to college for something artsy. Needs an outlet.”

“And nothing says ‘healthy outlet’ like ‘mutilated corpses.’”

“It’s… morbid… but it keeps him busy.”

“Jesus, what’s the little monster do if he’s NOT distracted?”

“You’ve pretty remarkably turned this conversation away from you, haven’t you?”

“Look, what more do you want out of me? I mean, how would YOU feel if I started randomly accosting you, knocking you out, then dragging you out to the middle of Fall’s End to have a potluck dinner with all my friends? Do you think you’d react any better than me?”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t be trying to throw around my weight like a sava-”

“Hey, stop and think about some racial dynamics at play here and don’t finish that word.”

“Like a… brute.”

“There ya go, no uncomfortable implications there. But admit it, you’d be pissed. And that? That is what every single interaction I’ve had with you and yours is like.”

Faith seemed to pause at that a little, for once forcing herself to look at her own actions critically. Even sounding a bit unsure as she asked, “Do you remember what I asked you?”

“Before you knocked me out for the third time in twenty-four hours? Yeah.”

“Well?” Faith mumbled, “Do you even like me?”

Sighing, Judith felt like she was being asked this question over and over, “Were we in any other circumstance, you’d be my perfect little girlfriend. As much as you tried to brush it off, I tried to stop this. Don’t like jerking people around, don’t like stringing them along. Look at this situation, Faith, it’s fucked.”

“If you’d just-”

“I’m not going to, Faith, I’m really not going to. I need you to understand that.”

Standing up, Faith took a step closer. Pressed against the safety bar and scrutinizing Judith carefully. Her look empty, disappointed, wanting to find some trace of uncertainty but found none.

“Then what do we do going forward from here?”

“Well, I’ve got the distinct feeling you’re not going to leave me alone,” Judith pointed, Faith just nodding along to that, “But if you’re gonna be lurking around me… man, if you would just give up on this fucking conversion fantasy for both of our sakes that would be for the best.”

“But the Father told me to-”

“Does the Father stand over your shoulder when you do this?”

“No…”

“Can he even tell what you’re doing?”

“No…”

“Then if you want my attention towards you to be positive literally at all? Just drop it. He wants you to lurk around me? Whatever. Just drop all the cult shit.”

Furrowing her brows, Faith negotiated, “How about I stop talking about it if you stop calling it a ‘cult’?”

“I call a horse a horse,” Judith replied, “Not gonna call it a dog.”

“You don’t respect me.”

The accusation was stark in the air.

Mostly because Judith almost couldn’t disagree with it. But she wouldn’t say it was a lack of respect for Faith as a person but rather a lack of respect for Eden’s Gate as anything worthwhile.

Nothing but a leech, sucking the life from both the people in it and seeking to do the same for those out of it.

Hard to respect the action of the person doing that not only to herself but all of Hope County.

“I don’t necessarily respect all your choices and decisions or most of them, really,” Judith picked her words carefully, “I respect you as a human being but I think you’re hurting yourself in addition to hurting many, many others.

“Didn’t you listen?” Faith pointed at the statue of the the Father, omnipresently watching over them, “He saved me! I was hurting myself back then, over and over, but he made me stop.”

“How old were you?”

“What?”

“How old were you when Joseph found you?”

Faith didn’t know where this was going but answered, “I was seventeen.”

“And you’re, what, mid twenties now?”

“I’m twenty-four.”

“Have you ever stopped to think that a then…” Judith counted on her fingers real quick, “Thirty-seven year old man approaching a particularly vulnerable seventeen-year-old girl and being like ‘hey, come with me, you’re my sister now’ was really fucking weird? Like, you get that that’s exactly how people get into cults, right? Textbook, even?”

“Are you insinuating he’s done something inappropriate to me?” Faith narrowed her eyes, knuckles white on the bar with small but unnerving wafts of green coming off her already, “I’ve had more people than I’d care to recount take advantage of me in that way but never, ever the Father. Never.”

“No, no, for all his… unsettling nature I don’t think that’s something that’s on the table for Joseph,” Judith nearly sighed in relief as the boiling over simmered down again, “Hell, he might have even consciously picked you out as an easy target. Dude’s off center but he’s completely convinced of everything he says. Probably really did think he was saving you.”

“And who are you to say he didn’t? What makes you the authority on being rescued?”

“Because I’m a rescuer literally by profession and after I’ve saved someone, I don’t make them work in and around the very stuff that was endangering them in the first place let alone tell them to do it to others.”

“What do you mean?”

“Faith, he’s got you working with drug production,” Judith gestured to the building at large before at her, “I don’t know what the hell he did to make you be able to do what you do but you’re literally a sentient drug hallucination half the time and you literally emit drugs”

“The Father has simply turned my curse into my gift,” Faith twisted her hand in the air, a swirl of bliss following her every motion before pooling in her hand for a second before drifting down between her fingers.

“But what of the people you drugs now? What if the Joseph hadn’t found you, hadn’t picked you? You could have ended up like one your Angels easily, don’t you think?”

“Everything in life folded out as it should have,” Faith shook her head, “And even if I hadn’t? I’d be honored to be one of the project’s Angels.”

Like arguing with a brick wall.

Judith just leaned her head on the bars, “Then where are we at with this?”

“You’re a confusing person to talk to, you know that?”

“Well, I’m just slowly giving in to the fact you’re not going to let me end this,” Judith tapped a finger on the bars, “So it’s up to you, I guess. Are you going to keep chasing after me even after all this?”

Faith just stared at her as she made up her mind. Waving back and forth, anchored only by hanging onto the bar.

“Yes, I’m not going to give up on you,” Faith grinned, “But I do want to make a small deal with you, if you’d be willing to make some mutual agreements with me.”

A deal with the devil but the devil thinks it’s an angel.

But Judith was open to listening.

“What are you proposing?”

“I want you to stop calling my life’s focal point a ‘cult.’”

“I can do that,” Judith nodded. Maybe she could call a horse a dog if it meant her life was just a little bit easier. She bargained though, “But what are you going to do for me in return?”

“What is it that you want in return?”

Judith looked down at the water for a bit, thinking.

Looking up, she replied, “Look, like I said earlier… Joseph’s not watching you, right? Just lay off on the cu… on all the Eden’s Gate talk. I’d rather get to know you than get to know the doctrine that you very well know I have to fight against.”

Pouting, Faith clearly wasn’t terribly into this idea but she nodded, “Fine. We don’t have to talk as much about the project.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Judith sighed, “Now let me out of this cage.”

“I can’t do that,” Faith shook her head as she stood up and began to turn away, “My whole family knows you’re here.”

“What the hell?!” Judith yelped after the leaving woman, “You’re just leaving me here?!”

Faith paused, looking back, “Honestly? You’ve gotten out of worse. Just think of it as confidence in your abilities. As much as I’d like to stay around and watch it happen… I should probably get going. Safety and all. Not exactly fond of the idea of being caught in the crossfire.”

At that, Faith simply wiggled her fingers in a wave at Judith before she disappeared through the doorway.

Leaning back, Judith flinched at the sudden metal jab into her hand.

Jerking it away, she twisted around only to finally notice the shiny silver key taped tightly to one of the bars.

Looking back to where Faith had disappeared Judith figured she’d give the woman those few minutes she clearly wanted to get out of dodge. But even as she carefully wrenched the key to freedom, she found herself wondering exactly what kind of relationship she’d lodged herself into.


	15. Imagine That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is truly a fic of just... me adding extra chapters that didn't initially exist and just making it longer and longer. It's the most off-book I've gone from my chapter summaries in forever. Absolutely taking me for a ride and very easily going to become my longest fic by a giant margin.

Judith had waited a solid hour or so in that cage, almost enjoying taking a break from fighting or being harassed if not for the metal rods digging into her extremities. Hell, she even opted to go more quietly into that night. Letting herself drop down into the water below and simply swimming away rather than trying to clean the viper’s nest out like usual.

Although partially that was a vague paranoia of Faith having not left yet. Who knows. Could have gotten held up by some subordinate with endless questions or something.

Gasping as she burst back out of the river on the other side, Judith awkwardly pulled herself up on the shore. Wobbling and coughing at the sudden mouthful of bliss emanating off of an overturned barrel nearby.

Captain Planet would be shitting his speedo over this.

Man, speaking of shit, this was going to be a hell of a shitty hike to get out of here.

Judith had no idea how long she was jockey’d around by the Seeds but she felt like death. Greasy and tired as hell was her only hint as to her confinement period. Pulling out her map… looked like the nearest place she could crash is Sharky’s.

Not a bad dude but she had a feeling that the little mark he’d placed on her map was going to be a particularly sad little home.

And after that uneventful hike it proved to be just that.

The ratty old trailer was covered in warning signs that Sharky had most certainly stolen from all around Hope County. Empty beer bottles littered the place and there were sure a lot of questionably stray but definitely feral cats wandering around. A large American flag hanging on the porch in front of his door.

Stepping over a sleeping tabby on the steps up, Judith knocked on the door.

Cracked open, Judith saw the muzzle of a gun before she even saw her newfound friend’s face. But it jerked away quickly as he swung the door open, “Well, if it ain’t my favorite cop! Thought you were gonna be a Peggie knockin’ around to try and get some last minute convertin’ in! You look like hell, c’mon in. People been askin’ where you been, it’s been days!”

Judith didn’t have time to take in that timeframe as Sharky grabbed her by the wrist and excitedly dragged her inside.

It was no better in here than it was out there. Somehow there were even more signs inside than outside but the beer bottles were full, he began grabbing a few with a wide smile on his face, “I never get company, man. This is exciting!”

“Not to put a complete stop on your roll but I do have a favor to ask before any sort of potential debauchery.”

“Well shit, you didn’t just come to hang out with me?”

“Getting to hang out is a pleasant side effect of your house being the closest house.”

“Hey, I’ll take it,” Sharky shrugged, “Coulda kept dragging yourself somewhere else. Whatcha need?”

“I’ve been held captive for several days and I can physically feel a layer of grease over my entire body.”

Looking her up and down, Sharky nodded, “Yeah, you look pretty nasty.”

“Thanks, good build up of my self esteem there,” Judith hung her cowgirl hat off his couch, “And if you’ve got some clothes I can borrow just long enough to wash my own? All of my other outfits are with Nick and Kim.”

“Yeah, sure, leave your clothes hangin’ on the door and I’ll grab something for you,” Sharky pointed toward his bathroom, “Hope you like vintage disco shirts and pants with holes in ‘em.”

Hand on the doorway and halfway to disappearing, Judith quipped, “Somehow, I think I will survive.”

She closed the door as Sharky began his extremely off tune rendition of the rest of the song, surely Gloria Gaynor must be rolling in her grave. Wait, is Gloria Gaynor dead? Rolling in her bed, probably surrounded by lots of cash? Well let’s hope that.

At least Sharky keeps a relatively clean bathroom. Sliding out of the dirty t-shirt and jeans off and hanging them on the slightly wonky doorknob as instructed before turning on the water and stepping in.

Back to the water, Judith pushed her hair back and let the water barrage her directly in the face. Like a spa day and a waterboarding combined. Just enjoying the solitude of being alone.

Hearing the door click open, Judith peeked out just to make sure that she was going to stay alone. She felt bad for that suspicion but at the end of the day Sharky was still someone that Judith barely knew.

But he was a perfect redneck gentleman about it. Only opening the door enough to snake a hand in and awkwardly grope around for the dirty clothes. Knocking them to the floor almost instantly. Swearing loudly. Successfully attaining the dirty clothes. Attempting to hang the clean ones. Also right to the ground. Swearing loudly again. Accepting failure. Tossing them on top of the closed toilet. Closing the door again.

Content with that, Judith went to shove her face back into the water.

But suddenly hearing a voice behind her nearly made her slam forward into the slightly dirty tile wall, “You know, if you’d like to be able to clean yourself in the home of someone a bit more civilized I could always grant you permission to some of the Project’s more private safeholds.”

Gasping sharply, Judith gagged on water and sputtered inelegantly as she jerked around to find she wasn’t alone but not in the way she expected.

Leaning back against the wall, Judith had no doubt that this was merely the hallucination of Faith rather than the real thing. Curiously observing her with a coy smile and wandering eyes, “Well, you’re certainly in even better shape than expected.”

Suddenly remembering the circumstances, Judith quickly instinctively covered herself with her hands and a somewhat frantic response of, “Fucking hell, can’t a girl have some privacy?!”

Faith’s eyes jerked up at that, locking with Judith’s with a look of confrontational confusion on her face, “You know, one of the last times we were physically together you tried to sleep with me, right? Presumably we would have been naked for an activity like that. I certainly didn’t expect you to be so shy at this stage. Do you want me to leave?”

“No, I just...,” Judith slowly lowered her arms, realizing that the modesty was a bit of a moot point at this point. Especially considering her own normal level of modesty which is just barely above a solid ‘no.’ Her face was still slightly red as she replied though anyways,, “Just not exactly used to, you know, drug hallucinations suddenly accosting me while I’m in the shower. I feel like that’s a reasonable reaction.”

The pointed eye contact continued, “I’d just assumed you’d gotten used to me always being here for you.”

“Alright you can stop with this uncomfortably intense eye contact,” Judith waved a hand in front of her own face, “Didn’t know I could see more comfortable with someone staring at my boobs than my eyes but here we are.”

Faith listened and let her eyes move elsewhere, “You have problems with emotional intimacy, I’m finding.”

“I have an intense eye contact during uncomfortable situations problem, not an intimacy problem.”

“You keep people close but you don’t let them in,” Faith continued, stepping closer and letting her hands ghost over Judith’s bare hips, “You like attention but not attention to your details.”

“Man, I didn’t know I had an on-demand therapist,” Judith fidgeted, used to having a girl being in the shower with her a more hands on and fun, yet somehow less invasive experience, “Can I just finish my shower and go? You know that there’s someone out there who will eventually worry that I’ve like, slipped, fell and died in here?”

“I think he’s going to hesitate for a long, long time before he checks.”

“Did you have like... something you wanted to communicate to me? Was there a reason for crashing my increasingly rare me-time?”

Face twisting into an annoyed grimace, Faith’s tone was highly offended, “Well, for one I thought you’d enjoy company in the shower but evidently I’ve missed the mark.”

“I mean, I would, just not in these circumstances,” Judith gestured at the small and not exactly immaculate shower, water beating down on her back still and growing colder by the second, “In a borderline stranger’s house with a woman who is not only not actually here but isn’t naked either.”

Gripping at the edges of her dress, Faith waved back and forth as a playful smile snapped back onto her face, “Lust is a sin, you know.”

“Considering the way you were eyeballing me earlier, you seem pretty guilty on that front too.”

“Maybe I was just appreciating the fitness level of our county’s police force,” Faith replied, rocking back and forth with a grin.

“Last time I checked, my tits aren’t exactly related to my feats of strength.”

“Anyways,” Faith playfully rolled her eyes and ignored that accusation entirely, “I did come here for a reason. I wanted to offer you something.”

“Wow, an offer instead of a kidnapping,” Judith pushed back some soaked hair sliding forward, cringing at the water growing colder behind her, “That’s a giant step forward for you.”

A dark glint in her eye couldn’t kill Faith’s smile though, “I figured you’d appreciate that. I wanted to go on a picnic with you, in Holland Valley by the apple trees.”

“That’s an oddly simple plan for you.”

“Well, my grander ones haven’t been going all that well. So?”

“I mean, it sounds fine,” Judith replied, “Weirdly normal but fine.”

Faith perked back up at that, “It’s a date then.”

“Alright. Can I like… you know… finish my shower now? I’ve got a movie to watch and beer to drink.”

“I won’t pretend I’m not a bit uncomfortable with this situation that you’ve created here…”

“And I’m not surprised you are considering every interaction I’ve had with you but no, I’m not gearing up to bang the arsonist that’s got a solid decade on me.”

“Just checking,” Faith chimed, stepping forward again with her face hovering inches from Judith’s with a grin, “I know I shouldn’t be too concerned… you know I can check in whenever I want.”

The ghostly peck on the lips poofed Faith, leaving bliss mingling in the water below.

At this point the water beating down on Judith was ice cold. With a sigh she tilted her head back to finish washing her hair in the frigid blast.

Man, why couldn’t she have picked a less troublesome person to get a crush on.

\- - -

The borrowed clothes were far too long on Judith, the pants only being held up by virtue of her own belt. She looked like a weird, disco-themed homeless lady.

“Look who’s finally ready for the ball,” Sharky yelled from the couch, holding out a beer to her, “Didn’t hear you fall so I was startin’ to worry you drowned standing up in there, like a turkey.”

“Nah, just got lost in my thoughts,” Judith picked up the pace to grab the beer happily, “When you’re out fighting the cult singlehanded all day and night you get a lot of shit stuck up there.”

“Well, for the next whatever the runtime of this movie is you don’t gotta think about that shit,” Sharky held up a beat up looking DVD, “This one’s about a cop- that’s you- that has to team up with a criminal- that’s me- but they put aside their differences to become friends and stop a mafia racket. That’s the cult.”

“Is this you telling me you want to come and help me more often?”

“Maybe.”

“I can maybe make some excuses to have you come along in the future,” Judith cracked the beer open and took a huge gulp, “But right now all I want to do is get drunk and forget about the fact I’m in a hellscape that I’m expected to clean up.”

“Shit, I can drink to that,” Sharky laughed, pushing himself up like an excited child, “I’m makin’ us microwave nachos too, oh man, I’m so excited. Nobody ever comes over to hang out!”

Judith settled into the couch as she took another drink as she watched Sharky crouch down to fiddle around with the DVD player.

This couch may be covered in food stains and scorch marks but damned if it’s not a comfy one.

\- - -

A couple six packs, a disgusting amount of cheese based food, a movie and Sharky dragging out a barely functional karaoke machine later, Judith was the most relaxed she’d been in eons. Also the drunkest. This was potentially a helpful factor.

Normally she wasn’t want to be more than a little buzzed but hell, didn’t hurt once in a while.

Also Judith help but wonder if being inebriated warded off Faith’s hallucinations in some way as the woman hadn’t shown up for the rest of the evening.

Sprawled out on the couch, Judith watched Sharky wail out one more final, off tune song before crashing onto the only segment of couch that she wasn’t taking up. Even through his drunkenness it really was obvious he didn’t get to do this much. Considering the nature of Hope County now Judith was having a hard time picturing what things were like before but couldn’t help but wonder why Sharky was alone.

Although, she supposed, if he’d always been going nuts with a flamethrower in an abandoned trailer park she could see it.

In another life, they would have had to head over here and be arresting Sharky right after they had taken in Joseph and his kin.

But that was a world Judith wasn’t in right now. She was in a cultist occupied valley and crashing on an arsonist’s couch while he still drunkenly mumbled song lyrics to himself at four in the morning.

The hour to talk about things you wouldn’t usually talk about to people you wouldn’t necessarily open up to.

“Hey, Sharky?”

“Yeah, man?”

Judith looked down into the empty beer can before putting it on the side table with countless others, “You seem like someone that’s made a lot of questionable choices in his lifetime.”

“Lil’ rude but not inaccurate,” he replied, eyebrow raised, “You gonna start judging me now?”

“No, just know I’m making some questionable choices myself right now too. I’d rather talk to someone else whose used to things blowing up in his face, probably usually literally. You’ve experienced consequences and aren’t gonna have some lofty outlook on things.”

Sharky nodded, “I’ve lost my eyebrows more than once. Not just from fire. Had an exe with a weird, weird sense of revenge.”

“Revenge for what?”

“Accidentally burned out the inside of her car. Really wasn’t tryin’ to just uh… don’t play with lighters in your girlfriend’s car is what I learned that day. Anyways, what questionable decision is on the plate for ol’ Officer Redfox?”

The real question was how to phrase this without letting Sharky know exactly who she was talking about.

“Alright, so there’s, uh, there’s this girl-”

“Girl! Hell yeah, Hurk owes me ten bucks!!” Sharky clapped his hand together and jerked a fist back.

“The hell’s that mean?” Judith narrowed her eyes at him.

Instantly his victory dance balked and he grew sheepish, “Uh, well, uh, shit, alright so me an’ Hurk had a bet whether you whether you were, uh, gay or straight, maybe.”

“Well, you’re both wrong. It’s not just girls, it’s just a girl right now. Bi.”

Sharky quickly went to confused, scratching the back of his neck, “Ah, shit, what do you do if you’re both wrong in a bet?”

Smirking, Judith held out a hand, “You both have to pay the person you were making bets about.”

Were he not drunk, Sharky probably wouldn’t have fallen for that but inebriated he fished out his wallet with a defeat, “You’re gonna have to remember to ask Hurk for his half yourself because I sure as hell won’t.”

Taking the crumpled ten dollar bill and stuffing it into her bra, Judith nodded with a mental note to also get Hurk drunk and take his money in the most legal way possible, “Duly noted.”

“Alright then, tell me about this mysterious girl that’s keepin’ you up at night. She hot?”

“I think it’s pretty par for the course to only be making questionable choices over hot girls. Not gonna risk my neck over someone I don’t think is attractive. Hell, I’m not sure I should be risking it for a hot girl…”

“What’s the problem with this girl? Too needy?”

“God, that’s an understatement but I’d say that’s the least of our problems…”

“Spit it out, girl, what’s the issue?”

Judith swung her legs over and leaned forward a bit, choosing her words carefully, “Her family.”

“Ohhhh, it’s one of those issues,” Sharky said, “I get that. I been chased off an exe’s family’s land with a shotgun before. What they like?”

He’s not drunk enough to put the pieces together? Right? Hell, he probably couldn’t sober.

“Real religious. Father’s a weird ass pastor, oldest brother’s a military dickbag with a stick up his ass, youngest is a real kitten stomper of a serial killer. Whole group is overly interested in me.”

“Got a little of everything in that mix, huh?” Sharky laughed, “Fuck, that’s a three-hit combo of weird shit to deal with. Especially with ‘em being interested, usually it’s more of a like... they just want you gone deal.”

“Well, problem is, I can’t really see a future in this but she can,” Judith grabbed the last can on her side and cracked it open, “And I’m really not the type to jerk people around. I like her but there’s a lot, and I mean a LOT, of things that are deal breakers here.”

“I’m hearin’ all the negatives here,” Sharky grabbed his own last beer as well, pointing at her with it, “What’s keepin’ you around?”

Judith didn’t even have a good answer to that one. Not because she didn’t have one but because she didn’t know how to put it into words.

“She’s the most fascinating person I’ve ever met. Does things that are impossible. Led a life that’s been long and difficult and weird. She’s not gonna let me save her but I want to and I guess sticking around is the closest I can to that. And I’m starting to think that somewhere, deep down, I kinda like having the attention of a stage five clinger. Some kinda complex causing that or something.”

“Do you like… want advice? Because I’m not great at that and also I’m like halfway to falling asleep on top of that.”

“I don’t know,” Judith shook her head, “I just think I wanted to get it out. But if you were gonna give me advice on it?”

“Yeah, you know how you assumed I made questionable choices? Well, my questionable advice would be just go with it. Maybe there IS a future that you just can’t see yet. You seem to like her so why not just… go along with things until there’s a reason to not go along with things?”

“That’s… yeah, honestly, that’s what I was thinking too…”

“Hell yeah, just go with it, see where it goes, have some fun with it. Don’t worry about it so much.”

“I’m not exactly used to just… letting things happen. Guess I should try at least.”

“Exactly,” Sharky grinned, rolling his head back and looking at Judith while on the absolute cusp of passing out, “Besides, whoever this chick is it’s not like she could be the worst option of eligible bachelorettes in Hope County, right? I mean, Faith Seed’s walkin’ around being all hot and scary, imagine getting stuck in that mess. Then you’d have a real problem.”

“Yeah, imagine that,” Judith groaned, putting her head in her hands.

Thankfully Sharky didn’t have a chance to question her dismayed response to that as his previous warnings came to fruition. Out like a light, lightly snoring, in a heartbeat.

Leaving Judith reeling from that last direct bombshell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been drawing a bit of Faith and Judith lately, you can check out my drawings at [my tumblr](http://www.catisacat.tumblr.com/) and [my instagram](https://www.instagram.com/catmightbeacat/).


	16. Not-So-Angry Orchard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was really close to naming this chapter "easy access" lmao

By the time Judith woke up the next morning, Sharky had been up for quite a while. A bit of an early bird, already getting along with his day which seemed to be “flamethrower repair.” Even had her clothes folded at her feet.

He seemed a bit reluctant to have her leave, trying to come up with excuses to hang out but the hallucination gently rocking behind him had other plans.

Ducking into the bathroom to change again, Judith found herself being watched through the mirror. Faith casually instructing Judith to meet her out in the orchard after leaving. Eyes poorly pretending they weren’t wandering the whole time.

Guess Faith being a peeping tom was just a part of her life now.

Judith was fairly okay with that.

Sharky took one more swing at “we can get drunk and hang out at the river and go swimming then get more drunk and then torch a Peggie encampment then drink some more and pass out in a bliss field.”

But eventually Judith managed to get out of the building and wave goodbye to her disappointed friend.

Man, why are there so many ATVs just scattered around here, ripe for the hijacking? Not that Judith was complaining, no faster way to get around the winding roads of Hope County, but sure was weird. Like a video game or something.

Meeting Faith for what was just about the closest to most normal date yet was starting to really sink in.

Somehow, the normalcy of it made the whole thing feel more sordid.

One stop on the way out, just swinging by the Ryes. Last time she’d stopped by they’d help her set up her own little space out in one of the hangars so she could come and go without disturbing them. Well, they’d said for her convenience but considering half the time she stopped by poor very pregnant Kim had to answer the door…

Well, she also didn’t want to disturb them every single time she needed to access her personal effects. Always felt bad about it.

Climbing up into the little loft they’d set up she dug through her clothes. Her police uniform and rancher outfit felt too business. She’d bought herself from other casual outfits at an outpost, looked like it was time for one of those to make an appearance.

Rooting around she eventually dug out a slightly edgier outfit. Kinda reminded her of her slightly younger days as a pre-police academy hooligan. A shirt labelling her a “troublemaker”, tied up a bit to show off her abs. Jean vest to show off her arms. Just a real ‘show off your muscles’ outfit all over, really. Faith’s previous approval of her physique hadn’t escaped Judith’s notice and lightly flexing in the small mirror she had a feeling the woman would approve.

Putting on her cowgirl hat as always, Judith set off again.

It was odd to be alone on the trek up towards the apple farm but Judith supposed that made sense. It never took her too long to get ready, her hair and clothing practical and her makeup regimen nonexistent.

She imagined that Faith was probably a bit more finicky about her looks.

This was going to be a dangerously close to public appearance with the woman. Feeling safe only because she knew most citizens of Holland Valley tended to avoid the apple farm nowadays from the pointed pain of having lost Rae-Rae.

And now she was going to go and have a picnic in the dead woman’s orchards with the sister of the one who killed her.

Man, Judith hated whenever she thought too hard about things and remembered how fucked up it all is.

As the farm came into view, Judith realized they really hadn’t set a plan other than “go to the orchard.” Beginning to weave between the trees, Judith looked around expectantly but as far as she could tell Faith was nowhere to be seen.

Doing a lap of the orchard and even going as far as to check the abandoned house, Judith still found nothing.

Considering the hallucination of Faith wasn’t around either perhaps she was still getting ready.

Not terribly wanting to wait around the blood soaked porch, Judith wandered back into the trees and plopped down on the ground. Leaning against one of the wooden boxes. Sure she wasn’t terribly visible but she was also pretty sure that Faith had some freaky-deaky ability to know where she was at all times.

As time passed, Judith found herself closing her eyes. Nodding off.

\- - -

“Ow! Stop pulling so hard, you're going to rip a fistful out!!”

“I'm not even going to apologize because why would you think that I can do this? You can see me, you can see my clear lack of long hair, why would you think this is a skill in my repertoire?”

Another painful tug at Faith's hair nearly pulled her off the chair. Her blonde locks a poorly done knot that John was pretending resembled a braid. Clumsily trying to correct it had only made it worse.

“You were did some theatre in college, right?”

“I don't know if you know this but they haven't had mandatory crossdressing in theatre since Shakespeare was still walking the earth? I just played men.”

“But everyone helps each other backstage, right?”

John laughed as he gave up and brushed out the failed braid again and took another swing at it, “Helping each other, is that what we’re calling it now? We were certainly doing something to each others’ bodies backstage but no, it didn’t terribly involve a lot of fixing each other’s hair. If anything, we were messing it up.”

“Augh, disgusting,” Faith pulled away from him, pulling her hair over her shoulder as she shot him a look, “I don’t want to hear about your love life.”

“You’re a hypocrite,” John grabbed the top of her head and turned it back around, giving up on the braid and ungently combing through her hair with his hand, “Considering you’ve dragged me into YOUR love life. Even making me help you get ready.”

“John, you volunteered to help with this.”

“You say tomato, I say tomahto.”

“Well, you say it wrong. Besides, I’m not talking at you about the baser elements of our relationship.”

“Unfortunately,” John joked, narrowly dodging the elbow aimed at his gut and completely undeterred, “So, are you intended to… what’d we just call it? ‘Help out’ Judith?”

“You're a horrible little pervert,” Faith scoffed, hopping off the stool and pulling her hair away before he dared attempt the braid again. Pointing at him accusingly as she lifted two of the outfits up, “Now put your dirty thoughts away and help me decide which of these to wear.”

It was a bit odd to see Faith holding such normal, casual outfits. Easy to forget she had anything that didn’t look like a conservative republican wet dream.

In one hand, a long, patterned, flowing skirt with a simple tank top. A straw hat with a long ribbon lying on the bed behind her to go with it. And in the other, some overall shorts with a striped t-shirt for underneath. Kneehigh socks folded on the bed to match.

Without hesitation, John pointed to the skirt, “That one.”

“Very definitive answer,” Faith looked at them but nodded and tossed the loser behind her, “What was your reasoning?”

“Easy access,” John laughed, dodging the pillow thrown at him by an inch.

\- - -

Judith’s dreams were never peaceful anymore, even now. Lying limply against the wooden box she’d easily fallen asleep, her mind now guilting her for her actions.

An odd way to get ready for a date, dreaming of the worst case scenarios of it.

But she didn’t have to be trapped in her nightmares for long, a thin hand gripping her shoulder and giving her a bit of shake.

A bit jarring to wake up from a nightmare about Faith to looking at the real Faith.

“Well, good morning again,” Faith laughed, pushing Judith’s slightly mussed hair back, “It’s dangerous to sleep outside, you know that, right?”

“Danger is my middle name,” Judith muttered the cliche, pushing herself up and taking Faith in. A long, long skirt nearly to the ground with an intricate greenish pattern, a plain white tank top and a straw hat. Ribbon wafting in the breeze the same shade of green. Nodding towards the outfit, “You look nice today. Kinda fun to see you in something different.”

Doing a little princess twirl, Faith sounded proud of herself, “I figured I’d dress up a bit for the occasion. Nice and breezy too. I was considering some overalls but this one seemed cuter.

“Overalls vs this?” Judith watched the skirt billowing, smirk on her face, "I mean, I get why you’d pick this over that.”

Faith tilted her head, “And why’s that?”

“Easy access,” Judith winked.

The gobsmacked look on Faith’s face was mixed with something that Judith couldn’t quite place. Kinda like the type of look you get when you nail something really weird and specific about a person. But with the offense taken, Judith didn’t know what it meant in this case.

An annoyed bap to the arm, Faith furrowed her brows, “I’m surrounded by beacons of sin!”

Not putting any stock in the plural, Judith just softened her smile, “You really do look nice though. Looks way more comfy than your normal dress, that one looks a bit stiff and restrictive.”

“It can be… I like it though,” Faith said, blissfully unaware of the dirty joke just barely bit back by Judith. Not unaware of the fact that the woman looked like she was going to pass out if she kept flexing like she was, waiting for her return compliments though. A gentle prod to the tensed up ads made the woman crumple though. Ticklish. Faith giggled at that, “If I tell you you look good too will you stop this bodybuilder show you’re giving me?”

Face a bit red, Judith let herself relax, “You spin your skirt, I flex my muscles. Just trying to impress either way.”

“Well, you do look good,” patting the picnic basket, Faith held a hand out out to Judith, “Now that’s out of the way on both fronts so why don’t we find a nice place and settle down?”

Judith let Faith curl around her arm like a baby koala, quite content to let her pick where they’d eat, “This is… weirdly normal.”

Nuzzling her cheek against the top of Judith’s head, just slightly too tall to be hanging off the rather small woman, “I like it. For once, for a little while, we can just pretend we’re normal. Just for a day.”

Just for a day. For once Faith was acknowledging how fleeting this all was.

Judith wasn’t going to point it out though, letting herself enjoy the moment. There was a perfect view in the middle of the orchard, not only beautiful but tactical. Great view of all the trees but also a great view of anyone looking to encroach on those trees.

It wasn’t an issue right now though, this section of Holland Valley really was deserted. Even the Peggies seemed to be scarcer than normal but Judith couldn’t help but wonder if that was on purpose. Faith was close to John, could have had him to divert the troops from this area for the day.

Letting go of Judith and pulling out a blanket, Faith expertly unfurled it and let it drift to the ground. Floating on top of it and elegantly dropping to into a sit. In comparison, Judith felt clumsy as she collapsed to the ground next to her.

Faith didn’t seem to mind though, eagerly pulling out neatly packed sandwiches and perfectly sliced fruit, “John helped me make all this, he’s very supportive.”

She had the feeling that John’s curiosity for these dramatics was a driving factor. He’d certainly been delighted at the events of the dinner, probably even offered up his land for this due to proximity. Hear about any fireworks quicker should things not go well.

“Huh, didn’t take John for someone who makes his own food,” Judith accepted one of the sandwiches and unwrapped it. A nice one, looked almost like it came from a classy restaurant.

“He doesn’t, not really,” Faith shook her head, unwrapping hers, “He can’t make anything nice, I made the actual sandwiches but he’s really good with a knife and he helped me cut everything up.”

Good with a knife. Of course. The most serial killer-esque of all the kitchen based skills you can have.

“You really are close with him, aren’t you? Always sounds like you spend more time with him than Joseph or Jacob.”

“Yes, me and John… well, we just have had painfully similar life experiences. Our family hurt us, we turned to drugs, people… people took advantage of us. In many ways. It’s bonded us, he’s become very protective of me too.”

“Even though you’re adopted.”

That hung in the air for a second, Faith having never directly acknowledged that particular fact about her and her family.

She knew Judith wasn’t stupid though, of course she’d figured it out.

“I always wanted a big brother. Someone to protect me. Whenever someone abused me I just… I just always wished I had someone strong to watch over me. Now I have three brothers. I’m closest to John and Joseph was the one to save me in the first place but even Jacob, who I admittedly don’t spend much time with, still would eagerly put himself between me and danger. I’m safe now after a lifetime of being unsafe.”

Faith was smiling softly to herself, happily picking a neatly sliced piece apple from a container. It should be a sweet sentiment, being taken in so readily by an entire family. Especially as an adult.

This is, of course, contaminated by the fact the babiest brother is a stab happy theatre kid, the middle brother is a unsettling cult leader and the oldest brother is a post-military fuckwad who tortures people for kicks.

“Did your big brother ever protect you?”

Faith’s question was harmless but despite the Redfox family being fairly normal it was still a bit of a empty thing to Judith, “No, not really. He was never mean to me but he was always tied up in his own shit, never cared about others’.”

“Does that ever upset you?”

“No, not really. My friend circle is the most important thing to me. Don’t think being blood with someone matters all that much, necessarily.”

Faith easily looked the most content Judith had ever seen at that, “It’s true, who’s most important to you… you genetic family isn’t always it. I’ve made my own family now, one that respects me and cares about me. Maybe… maybe one day you can be a part of it too.”

The loving gaze over the sandwich was pointed. Were this is a normal relationship in a normal place, Judith would take a statement like that as a sign she should start looking at rings.

“Well, I’m certainly growing my collection of friends here… gonna be a lot more difficult to integrate you into them than me into yours.”

Faith just swallowed a bite and tilted her head at that, her vacant smile sparkling, “There’s room in my family for everyone.”

Not the problem, Faith, not the problem.

The bite she took was to cover for the fact she had no answer to that.

“I know we should all love our own regions the best but John’s is so pretty, especially in the fall when all the leaves turn. I hope the Great Collapse doesn’t happen before then, I’d love to go for a walk with you here when that happens.”

You know what? Judith’s just gonna fuckin’ ignore that weird doomsday bit and just roll with it, “Well, if we’re all still here in Hope County I’d like that. Autumn is my favorite season too.”

“Mine’s spring,” Faith gestured around them, “I love all the flowers and all the baby animals running around.”

“I suppose spring’s also the most lucrative time for you considering the bliss flowers.”

Not quite an accusation but it made an awkward second.

“Well… it’s a busy time of year,” Faith decided to take this in a very formal, disconnected direction, “Have to oversee all of it, make sure that everything ends up going where it needs to be. Exhausting, you’ve seen how spread out all the fields and the corresponding buildings are.”

Alright, we’re just pretending things are very normal then. Judith took a bite of sliced apple, “Police work’s kinda the same year round. Patrolling’s the same in a place like Hope County, not much to do. Everyone’s got guns. Kinda take care of themselves.”

“What do you do on your days off, usually?” Faith asked curiously, crunching into her last bite of sandwich.

“I like to go out and do things,” Judith replied, gesturing with another piece of fruit, “I’m not a homebody. Going to the bar with my friends, dragging them out for a hike, going to house parties… I’m rarely content to just sit there and do nothing. So I guess it just boils down to me being a really active person.”

Crumpling up the wrappings of their meal, Faith dumped them back into the picnic basket from whence they came, “I enjoy being outdoors. Sometimes if no one’s around I just like to run around.”

“What if someone is around?” Judith shot her a mischievous grin, “What if that someone was me?”

Faith raised an eyebrow at that, “What, just you watching me run around like an idiot? Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun for me.”

“Nah, I’ll chase you if you want. I’m not above playing tag like a kid, hell me and the squad did that just a few week before we headed out here. Except we were a little bit drunk and it was also full contact tag.”

“Full contact?” Faith accused, frown slipping onto her face, “As in…”

“Not the sexy kind of full contact. As in I tackled Staci into the mud and purposefully dunked his face in a puddle. Or, I dunno, maybe he thought it was sexy, he’s kind of a weirdo. Wasn’t angry about it at least. I’m going to assume you don’t want me to use my high school football skills on you. Don’t think you’re into that.”

“No, I usually prefer to be the one in control,” Faith looked away, demurely covering the smile on her face, “Don’t want to be manhandled too roughly.”

“So you’re a mostly one sided switch,” Judith joked, ignoring Faith’s furrowed brows, “So let’s have some fun. C’mon, I’ll even give you a head start.”

“I can outrun you,” Faith said confidently, “I did track in high school.”

“And I was the quarterback and am literally trained to chase down criminals for a living.”

“Well then, Miss Confident,” Faith popped up, rolling up her long, long skirt at the waistband, “Why don’t you prove yourself? I don’t even need a head start.”

Pushing herself up, Judith grinned, “Hey, confidence is my middle name. On the count of three?”

Faith nodded as Judith raised her hand and ticked off on her fingers as she counted down. On three, Faith bolted as Judith took after her.

Judith had to admit, she was fairly impressed at how fast Faith was. Seeming to glide over the grass like a fairy, seemingly unbothered by the fact she was completely barefoot. Kind of impressive.

But even though Faith was skating tantalizingly just out to reach for now she was quickly bearing down on her. Long, elegant strides falling victim to sharp, quick aggressive ones.

Faith shrieked a giggling scream as she was grabbed roughly around the waist and easily whisked off the ground. Having only been able to avoid capture for a minute or less, truly underestimating Judith’s speed. Catching her hat as it soared off her head.

Not that she minded, being spun like a Disney princess. The orchard a blur until she was eventually they toppled to the ground, head still spinning.

Flopped on her back, Faith’s face went bright red as she realized a slightly dazed Judith was pinning her to the ground. There was something she liked about watching recognition seep back into Judith’s face as she regained control of her own mind, having made herself dizzy as well. Jaw dropping as she realized her faux pas.

“Sorry,” she grunted, trying to push herself up but failing and nearly collapsing on top of her, “Fuck, let me get my head right. Don’t want to crush you.”

Faith giggled at that, stopping another attempt to get up by wrapping her arms tightly around Judith. Enjoying feeling her strong back as she pulled her tightly against her, “It’s alright, you’re not hurting me.”

Pushing her short black hair back only left it to fall back into place, Judith’s grin infectious, “Sounds like a little more than that. Sounds like someone’s enjoying this a little too much.”

“Maybe so,” Faith’s hand creeped up her back before gripping the back of Judith’s neck and pulling her down into a tight kiss. Long legs eagerly wrapping around the more muscular one, hands sliding underneath the back of the jean vest eagerly. Arching her back with a giggle as Judith let one of her hand trail up Faith’s leg, bunching up the fabric of the too long skirt.

Nary a complaint of the encroaching hand as it settled too high, chancing a sharp grip on Faith’s hip. Thumb even hooked underneath a pair of rather flimsy, lacy underwear. No pushing away, no protest, nothing but a mischievous smile curling against Judith’s lips as she slides her own hands down Judith’s back only to move upwards again. This time underneath the shirt, fingers beginning to fiddle with the hook on her bra.

Okay so Faith won’t fool around in the confines of a secure cottage but out in the wide open orchard? That was apparently on the table.

Or, it would have been, if the sudden sound of someone approaching made Judith jerk upright suddenly and look back.

“What’s wrong?” Faith asked, failing to look past Judith still crouched over her.

“Shh,” Judith gently shushed, getting off of Faith as she made a disappointed noise.

But then she heard it too. Two other women’s voices. Neither were familiar to her but Judith seemed to be at least slightly aware of who they belonged to.

They were decently far from the picnic, far enough that unless you were really looking you could glaze right over them rolling around in the grass. Judith recognized one of the women but Faith recognized both.

For Judith only the scruffy brown haired woman in the oversized green hoodie was a familiar face. Jess. The other woman was a mystery to her, a black woman with long hair covered by a hat. A stark American flag scarf around her neck.

Faith recognized that one too though. Grace Armstrong.

Regardless of their degrees of recognition, both knew that they had to get out of here, right now.

They had a decent lead on them, both of them curiously examining the remains of the picnic. Nothing but a blanket and a basket full of trash. Not looking around for who could have made the mess.

For now.

Jumping to her feet, Judith easily pulled up Faith with her and they began running again.

Jess’s sharp ears caught that though, her head jerking up just in time to miss seeing the two of them but knowing someone was there. Running away.

Without a word, Jess bolted after them with Grace yelling after her as she tried to keep up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took too long, partially because it's a really hefty chapter but also because I'm been powerbombing New Dawn.
> 
> Playing the game has definitely narrowed down which ending I want for this though because I've definitely decided I'm not tremendously interested in this particular story leading into the New Dawn world. Largely because I reject the Deputy's place in that particular universe and am not interested in adhering to a quasi-canon storyline in that thread.
> 
> Not to worry though because this fic is a goddamn behemoth and is nowhere near being done lmao. It's at best halfway done, if that. I keep adding extra chapters.


	17. Grace Under Fire

There’s few things in the world more panic inducing than the sound of feet pounding behind you as someone chases you down.

Were they in Jess’s home court of ‘the forest’ they would have easily been hunted down but on the flat fields and with their substantial lead they managed to stay out of reach, out of sight.

But not out of earshot.

Despite being able to stay out of Jess’s other sense she could track them perfectly. Faith was left at the mercy of Judith tugging her towards an unknown destination. Easily resisting Faith’s attempt to turn them around to start running south.

Honestly, Faith wasn’t entirely sure that Judith knew where she was running. She really wished that Judith had heeded her tug towards Seed Ranch, somewhere secure and safe.

She wasn’t entirely sure about Holland Valley’s layout but she was fairly certain they were heading towards…

The abandoned church.

Inelegantly being hauled up the hill, they only made it inside the church just in time to avoid being spotted by Jess, lagging far behind but not deterred in the least. Seeing nothing but the door swinging shut.

Once inside, Faith was panting, pulling Judith towards the side room, and pointing to the back, “T-there’s a door out the back, we can-”

“No, not we, go hide in the shed,” Judith pushed her, “Keep your head down, don’t make any noise, I’ll get you after I deal with Jess and the other chick. Don’t try to travel alone. You’re literally wearing whatever the opposite of camo is.”

“Hide in the shed?! But-”

“Jesus Christ, Faith, do you want to get ripped to shreds by Jess?! Go to the fucking shed!”

Shooting Judith a death glare as she was pushed towards the back door but she reluctantly complied. Disappearing just in time for the door to click shut behind her as Jess slammed in through the other one.

Storming in like an animal stalking their prey, Jess looked around and Judith could have SWORN the woman was sniffing the air like a dog.

Stand there like a deer in headlights, Judith just stood stock still and stared at her.

Eyes connecting, Jess’s jaw dropped and her scarred skin went scarlet, “Judith?”

Time to tap dance, Judith.

“Fuck, Jess, you nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack,” Judith panted, fist balling in the front of her own shirt, “I thought some Peggies were chasing me down.”

“Didn’t take you for a runner,” Jess replied, “I’ve seen your handiwork, you’re a little more, uh, kill-y.”

“Something about that abandon picnic spooked me. Weird as shit. Who the hell is having a picnic on a dead woman’s property?” Judith lied through her teeth.

“So you saw that too? Weird as hell, right?”

“Very. What are you doing south of the Whitetail Mountains? Didn’t take you as the sort to wander around in places with uh, less cover.”

Jess’s face actually managed to go even redder at that, “I- uh- I’m just-”

Then Jess’s reason for her uncharacteristically southern venturing banged the door open again, rifle in hand, “Jess! Did you catch them?!”

She paused in the doorway, looking from Jess to Judith in confusion.

Awkwardly Jess pointed at Judith, almost accusingly, “This is that deputy I was telling you about.”

“Judith Redfox, nice to meet you,” the woman said, slinging the gun over her shoulder and approaching with a hand extended, “I’m Grace Armstrong, been hearing about your heroics all over Hope County.”

Judith gripped her hand in a firm handshake, “Oh hey, I’ve heard of you too. Dutch pointed you out, haven’t had a chance to come meet you until now.”

“Sorry we, uh, are meeting under the premises of ‘chasing you down like an animal.’”

“Yeah, sorry, I just could have sworn I heard at least two people running,” Jess scratched her head, “I guess my tracking’s not so good outside the forest.”

“It’s all good but man, you really took a couple years off my life,” Judith replied, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“So you asked what I was doin’ down here now it's my turn to ask,” Jess replied, poking Judith in the shoulder, “I mean, it's a lot less weird for you to be here considerin’ you're pretty much staying with the Ryes but still. Mostly because of the answer is ‘nothing’ we got somethin’ you can help with.”

Thinking of Faith who, if she'd listened, was cowering in a she's just outside she nodded her head away, “Kinda got something I need to do.”

“It's important, deputy,” Grace stepped forward, “A wave of Peggies are coming this way to desecrate the graves. It's why we were patrolling in the first place but we weren't able to cut it off at the source. They'll be here any minute, it won't take long. The Peggies can't afford a sustained attack.”

Here. The whole thing was going to go down here. Fuck.

“I'll… I'll help,” Judith reluctantly replied, “But I gotta take off afterwards.”

“That's fine, so do we,” Grace smiled, “Someone in this room promised me a nice dinner and a drink down at the Spread Eagle.”

Jess retracting even further into her shell with an embarrassed smile betrayed that it was her. Unnecessarily. Considering the only other person in said room was Judith.

A bang and some hooting from outside signalled that the Peggies truly had been just a minute or two away. Judith reminded herself to later ask Grace about her sources, predicting a Peggie attack is no mean feat.

What a busy day in Holland Valley, hell of an afternoon for a picnic.

Judith didn't exactly relish the thought of leaving Faith in a shed, unaware of what was going on but it was also her people causing this ruckus so she guessed she'd just have to deal with it and keep the fighting from going to the back of the church.

Surveying the outside, Judith was relieved to see the gravesites were really clustered in the front.

It was a short but bloody affair. Grace and Jess both invaluable assets to the fight. Whenever a Peggie for too close Judith oftentimes didn't even have a chance to take sim before the green sight would find them and blast their head apart or an arrow would find itself lodged neatly into their neck.

Too gruesome for her blood, Judith tried to stick to sniping on the roof with them.

As quick as the fight started it ended. Dozens of cultist bodies littering the graveyard and not in the way one might expect bodies in such a place.

Jess's hoots of victory felt disgustingly out of place to Judith but she didn't let it show. Even as the woman slid down off the roof and landed next to her with a clap on the should, “Goddamn you're a tough ass policewoman. Shit, we had more bitches like you in the service maybe we'd've completely stopped this cult shit before it even started.”

“In a better world maybe she did,” Grace replied sliding down the ladder to meet them, “You sure you gotta go, Redfox? Wouldn't mind if you joined me and Jess for a drink.”

The look on Jess's face hit the direct midpoint of “I don't want a third wheel making this even less like a date than it already is” and “but shit, hanging out with the Deputy is cool as hell.”

Either way she looked relieved when Judith shook her head, “No, I really, really gotta take care of business. You know a good place to get out of here in a hurry?”

“There's a boat dock if you head down behind the church towards the river, there might be some Peggies but since it's you… I wouldn't be too worried,” Grace gestured in the vague direction.

“C'mon, hate the smell of burnin’ bodies,” Jess insistently tugged at Grace's sleeve, looking a bit more wild than usual.

Judith couldn't help but wonder why the woman has decided on fire arrows for her primary weapon then.

But she didn't care too much about the details, she was simply relieved to get back to Faith. Or at least, hopefully where Faith had gone. Always was a chance that she's just left, especially if she knew about the Project occupied dock.

God, what a miserable end to a date if she did.

Either way Judith waited until the other two women had sauntered off down the road together before quickly bolting to the back.

Cracking the door open slowly, Judith peeked in.

Faith's normal composure was gone, used to being nothing but a ghost around the battlefield and not smuggled just out of sight. Pressed as tightly against the back wall as physically possible, she jumped at the sudden intrusion. But seeing it was Judith she scrambled to her feet and pounced on her. Clinging to her like a scared child, legs trembling so bad she nearly couldn't stand. Her body weight easily supported by Judith’s strong arms.

“It's alright, I've got you,” Judith weakly offered, hoisting up Faith in a bridal carry, “We've gotta fucking move though.”

“What happened?!” Faith asked, her arms wrapped around Judith's neck pulling even tighter, “I went in there and just…”

“Apparently there was an attack planned here today on the gravesites and we had the misfortune of not only stumbling into this area but into the people who were here to defend this place.”

“On the graves? But John said he'd keep people out of this area…”

“Might not have been him that ordered it, you've got three brothers you know,” Judith replied as she started walking Faith down towards the riverbank, “Don't exactly associate John with things involving soldiers…”

For a split second Judith couldn't help but wonder if this would dawn on Faith as “fucked up” but she glazed right over it.

“Perhaps… no more meetings in open spaces…”

“Yeah that was, uh, a pretty pointed ‘don't do that’ from the universe if I've ever seen it.”

Faith was going to reply but Judith suddenly ducked into a crouch, dropping them behind a bush. Looking where she was looking Faith could see a small group of cultists milling about. Protecting the small dock.

Judith let Faith slide out of her arms despite the other woman’s protests, safely depositing her onto the ground and began reaching behind her to grab her sniper rifle.

“No!” Faith replied, grabbing the stock, “I can end this without bloodshed.”

Shooting her an incredulous look, Judith replied, “How?”

“Let me just…” Faith replied, clumsily getting to her feet, “Look if you just… it's not weird for them to see you captive, just… hold my hand and follow me. Try to look dazed and confused. They'll just think I've captured you.”

“Yeah, I don’t like that plan,” Judith replied.

“You won’t actually be captured and besides we’ve played this cat and mouse with you a million times. They won’t harm you, they won’t follow us. We’re just passing through. Because our options are that, travel further and chance someone else seeing us, or you kill all of them and as you can imagine… well, I certainly wouldn’t be happy about that.”

Sighing, Judith resigned, “Alright, fine, we can try your plan but if they retaliate you better hit the deck like your life depends on it because I will not hold back.”

“It will be fine, they wouldn’t dream of crossing me,” Faith said, gently taking Judith’s hand, “You can even have to be unarmed, just look out of it.”

Never a person to perform, Judith felt stupid as she did her best impression of a zombie. Letting herself be brought down the gentle slope and towards the armed guards. She wasn’t sure if it was convincing but at least it seemed to be working. The guards were cautious but honestly they seemed a bit… curious.

“Miss Faith, is that-” one approached, tilting his head to get a better look at the fakely dazed Judith. Skittering back as Judith rolled her head over and made vacant eye contact with him.

“Yes, she was quite tired after the ambush at the church,” Faith gently started tugging her towards a boat just at the edge of the water, “I’m transporting her down to Seed Ranch, John wants to see her.”

That was certainly news to Judith, if Faith was telling the truth.

But she didn’t drop the act, even as she was led into the river. Even managing to not cringe at her socks and shoes instantly becoming soaked.

“D- do you need any help, Miss Faith?” another offered, stepping forward and reaching out towards Judith.

Stopped by a hand on his wrist, gently batting him away, “No, no, she can move by herself.”

“Are you sure? She looked pretty wobbly.”

Well, good to know she can take home an Oscar for this performance.

“I’m perfectly sure, I’ve dealt with the effects of Bliss more than you could imagine. With that in mind, are you questioning me?”

“No, no, it’s just- you looked a bit freaked out when you were walking her down…”

“Just… it’s fine,” Faith nudged Judith to get into the boat, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be with my brother soon.”

There’s no elegant way to get into a boat while pretending to be a druggy up mind slave and Judith immediate demonstrates this by giving up on any sort of dignity and just sort of collapsing face first into the boat before rolling onto her back.

Out of sight the Peggies all gave a tired Faith concerned look but she just waved a hand and climbed in herself with a bit more Grace.

It was odd seeing Faith piloting a vehicle. So used to watching her flit around in a weirdly supernatural way and only walking short distances.

Judith remained laying there until they were well out of sight of the dock, pushing herself up and sitting on the edge, “Never took you for someone who knew how to drive a boat.”

“If it weren’t so close to how a car worked we’d still be sitting at the dock,” Faith replied, “In any case, I certainly am not enjoying this. Would you like to take over?”

It was an offer that was more of a request. Faith looking relieved when Judith nodded and they swapped places. Content to drop into a comfortable sit, safely lodged in the center of the boat. Unperturbed or surprised when they picked up the pace.

“So that part about your brother wanting to see me… an excuse, right?”

“Oh yes, John has no business with you. I mean, you’ll most likely see him when you drop me off but he’s got nothing of import to say to you.”

“So I’m gonna see Seed Ranch, huh? Heard your brother had a huge place somewhere deep in Holland Valley. Has his own personal landing strip and everything. Knocked down a lot of trees the make the damned thing.”

“He does,” Faith answered reservedly, “Tons of bedrooms, giant living room, garage for his plane…”

“Does he ever fly you anywhere in that thing? Back to your home in the Henbane? Gotta be safer than ground travel, Nick Rye’s just about the only one you gotta concern yourself with up there.”

“I get to fly in John’s plane often, yes. All of us do, it’s the safest way to transport us around Hope County. Jacob doesn’t like to, I think because of his time in the army. John says he gets really antsy up there, makes him nervous too. Plus he doesn’t like trying to land in the Whitetail Mountains. Me and Joseph don’t mind though. I think it’s kind of fun, really. Until he decides ‘let’s make Faith scream by doing stunts.’ Like looking down at the beauty of the valley, don’t like being flipped around in the air.”

“Weird thinking that you guys are always travelling overhead but I suppose it really does make sense. You gotta get around unseen somehow.”

“Sometimes we go for picnics out high in the mountains, where the lakes are. Sit on the wings of the plane, dangling above the water. It’s beautiful. You can fly planes too, right? I believe Nick Rye was taught you. We could go up there sometime, I imagine you could procure a plane somehow. You never seem to have any trouble with transportation.”

Judith laughed, “Well, I mean, your people seem to just leave keys in the ignition as a way of life. Pretty easy to catch a ride.”

Faith made a face at that, looking out towards the shore zipping by, “Well. Sometimes we should go up there. Nobody would show up, much safer than a picnic in an orchard.”

“That sounds nice,” Judith replied, looking forward, “How much longer? I don’t know this area so well.”

“Not too long,” Faith turned around, kneeling as she held the edges, “We can pull up pretty close then walk the rest of the way.”

“John gonna fly you home then?”

“I will… be home.”

“Wait a minute…” Judith put some pieces together, “You live with John? Well… makes a lot more sense why you took me to some random cabin when my leg was hurt. Can’t get any privacy in someone else’s house.”

“Well, if John wasn’t nosy we could have…” Faith grumbled, crossing her arms, “He’s curious and he loves drama. Never able to keep to himself if something juicy is happening in his vague vicinity, let alone in the same building.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, I am not the first gorgeous and charming police officer you’ve brought home?” Judith laughed, swerving gently around a log.

For a second it didn’t dawn on Judith that it was quiet but when it did she looked at Faith, still facing away mostly. Peeking over her shoulder back at her, eyes full of guilt.

“Oh my god, I’m not the first police officer you’ve brought home?!” Judith gaped.

“You’re not… the first officer they’ve sent to investigate my family or things around them,” Faith turned around fully, tucking her legs underneath her again, “Joseph knows he can be a bit… off putting to people who don’t have open hearts and Jacob is… Jacob. So me and John are always the ones sent to deal with people.”

“Hell of a way to deal with ‘em…. Implied what you’re supposed to do or just a sucker for someone in uniform?”

“It was NOT implied what we were supposed... you know what, it wasn’t implied but both of us… nevermind it wasn’t implied but I’m coming to the slow realization that perhaps us being the young and attractive siblings might have been a factor…”

“You think?” Judith smirked, “Hell, Joseph might not have even consciously decided to use you guys in that way. Am I just another pretty face in green?”

“No, no, it’s… it’s not like that,” Faith looked down, “I just… the particular type of woman I prefer happens to also be the sort that is suited to police work.”

“That type of woman being?”

“Independant. Tough. Clever. Adaptive. Powerful.”

“Well, I’ve certainly seen you admiring my power but it’s nice to hear there’s more to this than that,” Judith laughed, trying and failing to make eye contact with the embarrassed Faith.

“Plus I just… like to be protected. I went through most of my life vulnerable and my earliest supposedly romantic conquests were… well, I was in the closet for most of my life. I knew, deep down, but it wasn’t until I escaped my old family and joined Joseph’s that I was given the freedom to be me.”

“Huh, always did think it was surprising the cu- Project was so open about things like that but I guess Joseph’s existence is at least twenty percent dirty hippie so I guess it makes sense.”

Faith crinkled her nose at that, “Joseph is not dirty.”

“Alright now that one I need you to concede because you can literally see how greasy his hair is just looking at him. Even got John to compare and know it’s not just how his hair is. It’s a lack of showers.”

Lips pulled tight meant Faith knew deep down that Judith was right.

Abruptly, Faith decided to change the subject from her brother’s lack of hygiene, “What about you… am I the sort you usually go after?”

“I'll be honest with you. Not really.”

“In what ways?” Faith leaned in curiously, “And why am I the exception?”

“You’re churchy, goody two-shoes, and optimistic. I’ve really only dated one other person that fit that bill and it was in high school. Mostly I just date sarcastic assholes but like… the good kind.”

“One other? Now I’m curious.”

“Beau Beaumont. He was on the football team with me, close friends for a couple years, dated for like a few months. Went to senior prom together. Six foot five, disposition of an angel and looked like Adonis himself. On top of all of that he was unbelievably filthy fucking rich heir.”

Unsurprisingly jealousy had seeped onto Faith’s face, “And how exactly did that work out?”

“Disappointingly. Turns out he’s exclusively gay. Still good friends though.”

Faith didn’t look content with that, “Well, if I’m like him… surely there’s something about me that I have that he doesn’t have other than ‘likes women’?”

“Well, to put it bluntly, Beau is dumb as a fucking brick. Just nothing going on between his ears. Big blue eyes glassy like a doll’s. I mean, I’m not winning any nobel prizes for scientific advancement but Beau is on some next level shit.”

“Well, I’m not exactly a PhD carrying scientist either but I like to think I’m pretty smart,” Faith grinned, “How about people you’ve met on the job? Ever tried to date someone you were sent to arrest?”

“Maybe… maybe happens a little more than it should,” Judith conceded, “Maybe Whitehorse makes it a point to not send me out on arrests that involve pretty women. Apparently he thought the arrest of a 40-something year old man wouldn’t have any skirts for me to chase.”

“You’ve got a an odd thing about you… your reputation is a womanizer and yet, it’s not just girls.”

“A lot pickier with dudes,” Judith replied simply, “So few men take care of themselves. You’ve got three brothers and only one can dress his goddamn self. Jacob looks like he wasn’t changed his clothes in thirty years and, hell, Joseph won’t even put a shirt on.”

“Joseph always says John is the pretty brother.”

“Huh, hell of a self analysis there,” Judith raised her eyebrows, “Not a lot of siblings going to admit they’re not the most attractive one. My sister is always chomping at the bit to call me the ugly sister.”

“Speaking of my pretty brother, we’re here,” Faith raised a hand to Judith, slowing the boat to a crawl. The giant ranch was visible from the water, devoid of guards from the back but a clear security system in place.

Climbing out of the boat, Faith reached out a hand to Judith, “Come in with me. John has a hidden TV room, we can all watch a movie together. Lots of snacks in here.”

“Not… not today.”

“Someday?”

“Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up with less Grace than originally intended, I should squeeze more in somewhere in a future.


	18. Fire and Brimstone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did nobody tell me there was a typo in the summary for 17 chapters D:

Faith had looked so disappointed when Judith had turned down her offer to come in but what could she do?

The day had already been a weird reminder of how fucked up this all is, she really couldn’t imagine cozying up on the couch with Sir Stabs-a-lot while they watch Legally Blonde or something.

Making her way back North, the further she got away from Seed Ranch the better she felt. Some weird pit in her stomach telling her she’d done the right thing but all she’d done was walk away.

Walk away. God, that’s what Joseph had told them to do. This place is really starting to get to her, isn’t it?

God, she needed a drink.

Actually…

Grace and Jess could still be at the Spread Eagle.

Wasn’t much of a hike either, taking her only about ten minutes to complete the journey on foot. The sun was pretty far set but the shine of the town was her guiding light, even if she was a bit nervous until she was walking down the main street.

Pushing open the door to the Spread Eagle, Judith found that she’d been correct. Tucked back into a corner were Jess and Grace, a large platter of mostly eaten nachos between them.

Probably a pricey little date, considering the relative rarity of these items.

Stopping by the bar for just a second to grab a beer from Mary May before heading back, Judith thought about how this was probably supposed to be the normal part of the day.

Jess jumped when she heard the chair dragging over to their table, turned backwards as Judith dropped into it like a 90’s cool kid. Leaning on the back and cracking open her drink, “So, I got what I needed to do done and figured I’d head over.”

“Glad to see you, deputy,” Grace smiled, pushing the remainder of the dinner towards her, “We’re kind of down to the dregs but if you want…”

“Don’t mind if I do, won’t stay too long,” Judith picked up one of the shards of corn chip and popped it into her mouth, “So how’s you twos’ date going?”

Blanching immediately, going even paler only accentuating her scars, Jess stuttered, “I- we- it’s n- we’re just-”

“Date’s going fine,” Grace interrupted with a smile, knowing that her words would only see Jess doubling over with embarrassment, “Gonna go for a night hike afterwards but uh, you’re not invited to that one. No offense.”

“None taken, gonna wander back towards the Ryes and pass out,” Judith smirked, “Long, long day. Need a weeklong nap.”

“Something tells me that’s not gonna work out for you,” Grace replied, Jess jumping even more at the hand over hers while her date talked, “Always seems like trouble’s finding you. Or, I mean, as your shirt indicates, you’re making it.”

“Hey, a girl can dream, right?” Judith replied, taking a long drink from her beer.

“You gonna be okay to walk home by yourself?” Grace asked, “Like you said, dog tired and now drinking a bit…”

“I’m not gonna get wasted, not that big of a drinker anyways,” Judith replied, “Frankly, it’s you two I’m worried about if you’re heading all the way into the Whitetails.”

Jess finally let herself crack out of the intimidated shell, gripping Grace’s hand far too hard in some sort of weird fear of intimacy, “I know every inch of that forest like the back of my hand, you’d have to be a dumbass to be afraid with me around.”

“Yes, you’re very knowledgeable about the forest,” Grace laughed, “But with Peggie patrols, I can see why Judith would be a little bit concerned about it.”

“Then we got you, Grace, so we don’t have to worry about that either,” Jess averted her eyes as she dropped the compliment, pushing her lower face into her hand to try and fail to hide the blush on her cheeks.

“These are scary times, Jess. Sometimes bein’ tough ain’t even enough by itself. I mean, hell, deputy. You’re scared, right?”

“More than you could begin to comprehend,” Judith took another long, long drink.

“Heard from Sharky that the Seeds kept you captive for a while,” Jess replied, “I’ve been captured by just their people, can’t imagine the real deal’s any less awful.”

“Well, at least from that one I managed to escape unscathed. To be honest, there hasn’t been much physical damage to me outside of the arrow to my leg.”

“Yet,” Jess added.

“Jess, shush! You’re gonna jinx it,” Grace admonished, “You know, we can walk you down to the Ryes if you want? Longer trip for us but then nobody has to walk home alone.”

“Nah, nothing funner than the thrill of getting slightly buzzed then running full tilt, alone, through the countryside. I’m just gonna down this, one more beer, then get to it.”

“Well… you’ll leave before us so if you change your mind…”

“I normally don’t do that,” Judith laughed, “But I’ll keep it in there.

\- - -

She did leave before them and as she predicted she didn’t change her mind despite further urging by Grace and Jess.

The only downside to being a lightweight is if you drink literally anything you’re just a wobbly idiot. And this particular wobbly idiot has decided that walking alone through cult infested territory is a good idea.

To be fair to her bullheaded confidence nearly carried her all the way home, the Rye homestead just in sight.

Then in blurry sight as a quieted ‘bang’ and sudden, dull pain socked itself into her arm.

“Well, fuck…” Judith mumbled as she felt her muscles go limp as she collapsed to the ground.

\- - -

Judith was beginning to wonder if her unconscious body had travelled more miles across Hope County than her conscious one.

This time she knew enough to know that she’d woken up to a blindfold again. Tied to a chair again, if she had to guess it was a rolling one by the odd shapes under her bound feet. But this time she didn’t think she was in a house again. It was cold in here, her arm hairs standing on end.

She could hear clicking and clanking very nearby, humming a little song to himself. Sounded show tunesy, pretty familiar.

Considering Jacob only seemed to listen to grandpa music and Joseph just gospels... 

John. It was probably John.

“Hey Johnathan? I know this is like your family’s whole fucking thing but if we can just speed up this process I’d like to have my body unceremoniously dumped in a cow field as soon as possible.”

“I’m flattered,” John replied, grabbing the back of the blindfold and whipped it off with a flair. Letting it flutter to the ground behind him, “You’ve learned to recognize me purely by my humming!”

A quick sweep of the room was alarming to say the very least. Built like a jail cell aside from a antler chandelier dangling above, it was illuminated blood red. A grim little workbench had been set up, covered in plenty of horrified little trinkets that Judith didn’t want to know what he intended to do with. God, she couldn’t be 100% certain but she was pretty sure that was a piece of skin stapled to the fucking thing.

Judith didn’t know much about what Christian believe hell looks like but from what she’s pieced together so far, this seemed like a pretty perfect picture of it.

“I mean, I’m a cop. Deductive reasoning and shit. If anyone’s gonna be busting out some Hairspray it’s gonna be you.”

“Ah, so you CAN appreciate the arts,” John replied, clearly miffed, “Could have appreciated them better if you’d come inside last night and watched it with me and Faith.”

Last night? Fuck, how long was she out? Would explain why her neck hurt so much…

“Had stuff to do…”

“You were at the bar.”

“The thing I had to do was ‘drinking.’”

“Classy. I’m sure you know that I must have much, much better alcohol in my possession. Vintage wines you couldn’t believe.”

“I don’t drink wine, I drink beer like a real adult.”

“What? That’s not even a- you know what, unrelated, whatever, you’re weird, whatever,” John squinted in confusion before slamming both of his hands on either side of her chair and leaned in, “Point is, you blew off my sister and I want to know why.”

“I didn’t ‘blow off your sister’,” Judith retorted leaning away, “Considering you’ve now kidnapped me and are holding me captive I feel very comfortable in saying it was YOU I was avoiding. Fucking freak.”

His lip curled, “That’s not a very nice thing to say to the person who tied you to a chair.”

“I mean you just justified half the insult so I’m gonna justify the other by pointing out the stapled piece of human flesh right over there,” Judith nodded towards the offending and slightly rotten point.

“That is an important part of the confession,” John retorted, simply, as if it was as plain and normal as a pastor’s collar, “Hopefully not for you though, it’s only if you resist. You’re not thinking of resisting the process, are you?”

It was at this moment Judith realized that John was holding something in his right hand as he raised it up.

A tattoo machine.

The little speech about John’s family was prattled off at her. Were it any other circumstances she’d be much more sympathetic to the man but given she was tied to a chair and about to have a hopefully clean piece of metal dragged along her bare skin she did nothing more than ‘not be actively insulting.’

Concluding as he connected some pieces of the apparatus together, he was practically sing song, “Thankfully, I believe I don’t have to question you like the others. I’ve got a little more help with this, someone with a little more insight into who you are.”

A grand gesture swooped over her body as he raised an arm to point behind her. Forced into obliviousness until the slow, padding steps brought her around.

Faith had to crouch a little to grab one of Judith’s captive hands tightly in both of hers before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek, “I’m glad you’re finally here.”

In the glaring red crimson lighting Faith’s normally white dress looked bloodsoaked.

In the darkness her eyes were dark and soulless, turning her serene face into a lifeless doll’s.

For a second, Judith just squinted in confusion at that. Had Faith asked John to send his people after her? Angry about not having her come in with her? Oddly aggressive for her though for a simple ‘not now.’ Normally nothing Faith does leads her to danger…

But this… this was part of John’s weird freaky confession kink, right? The thing which he somehow convinced his whackjob brother was a good idea for everyone in the goddamn cult? Even Joseph himself?

As that ran through her mind it dawned on her exactly what meant by ‘finally.’

Faith had intended to take Judith back to John yesterday no matter what.

Judith was certain that the path they’d taken to that destination hadn’t been the intended one, the woman wasn’t a fan of senseless violence, but the plan had always been to get Judith to take her to John.

Then this was what was going to happen.

“You planned for this…” Judith looked down, “You… lied to me. In the boat. You said there was nothing John wanted from me. It was this all along.”

No questions, just cold statements. Glaring up at Faith with that same uncomfortably serene look on her face. Unphased. Uncaring. Without a trace of remorse she pulled her hand away and she spoke, “This has to be done and I knew you wouldn’t do it otherwise…”

“Of course, I fucking wouldn’t!!” Judith shouted up at her, surging forward against her rattling restraints, “This is fucking crazy, you know that right?! And on top of it being fucked to hell, fuck, you just… you took advantage of my trust!!”

“I have to save you,” Faith leaned in close, practically sitting in Judith’s lap, “I wish we could just be normal, I really do. I wish you’d come willingly, let me help you of your own accord but you won’t let me. So I had to. I wanted us to have fun first and after this, you can come back to Seed Ranch with us and heal fr-”

“Oh no, I’m not fucking going back to sing ‘kumbaya’ in your fuckjob brother’s murder shack,” Judith hissed at her, straining tightly against her restraints, “Your fucking cult’s done a LOT to me but I swear to your weird fucked up god, I’m not going to forgive you if you carve me up like a goddamn holiday ham.”

Faith was taken aback, sliding off her place perched over Judith, “You can’t… talk to me like this…”

“I’m not one of your happy little obedient angels, I can talk to you however I fucking want and-”

Judith was cut short by the sound of a loud slam of metal and wood, jerking Faith around to look at the aftermath of John’s little fit. His workbench knocked over with him stomping over to her, annoyed, “I knew you shouldn’t have been here for this. Complicating things.”

“Joseph said-” Faith started, failing to squirm away from John as he gripped her shoulders and started steering her towards the stairs, “The Father’ll be mad if you kick me out!”

Only that caused him pause, manually turning Faith around with a finger waggling in her face, “Fine. You can stay. But be quiet and stop antagonizing her.”

“I’m not-”

“You are. Even if you think you aren’t.”

“Can I at least comfort her while you do it?” Faith asked, puppy dog eyeing her brother like a small child, “I’ll stay silent, I want to be there for her. I know this is hard to go through and I want her to know she doesn’t have to be alone…”

Yelling from her trapped position, Judith annoyedly added, “If anyone gives a shit about my opinion, not only do I not fucking want these goddamn tattoos but if I do I don’t want you here because if, and I really do stress ‘if’ this happens, I don’t want to see your face anymore.”

Both siblings ignored her though, talking as if she wasn’t there. Arguing for a few more minutes before John backed down to allow Faith to stay only if she stood behind Judith to stroke her hair and ‘verbally support’ her.

Not that it was going to work. Tied down tightly against the chair, Judith could only watch in abject terror as John went back to fiddling around with the tattoo machine. Watch it whirr to life in his hand as he crept towards her with that unnerving grin plastered on his face.

No amount of Faith’s quiet “there-theres” could drown out the grating sound of the machine.

Nothing about Faith’s hand raking through her short hair got rid of the pain as the needle dug inelegantly into her skin.

Only the dark familiarity of blacking out from the pain and shock was a reprieve from this nightmare. John’s bunker fading to black, Judith’s head falling back at the last second to see Faith’s same-as-ever serene face before she closed her eyes.

Seeing that was different this time though. It wasn’t some comfort. She wasn’t a spark of normalcy in an otherwise hellish world of the Project at Eden’s Gate.

Faith was just another one of the fires threatening to burn this place to the ground.

And she was going to take Judith with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are currently standing at the (current) exact midpoint of the story and the breaking point of it as well. I'm very excited about the second half of this story going forward, I've never written a story quite this long and hope you guys continue to enjoy it!
> 
> Also good news!! With my taxes done I was able to afford a new laptop!! No more trying to write through endless computer crashes anymore!!


	19. Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm officially unnerfed by the fact I have a functioning laptop so have a chapter not two days after the last one like god intended.
> 
> Might get started on a second fanfic now that I can again. I'm thinking about a second fanfic to run alongside. I have another Judith one I'd like to do but different pairing of Judith/Pratt. I'm on such a Far Cry bender that I can't imagine writing for something else right now lmao.

Pain. Blinding pain. Across her chest and going down both of her arms.

Blinking her eyes open gave her no hints other than “I am outside.” Stars twinkling above her.

It would be peaceful if she wasn’t limp, cold and dazed. Body throbbing in pain. All these things pinning her to the ground like a taxidermy bug under glass.

Judith must have been dumped unceremoniously here as she definitely hadn’t managed to escape. The only care being taken in her disposal being “I am on the grass and not in the middle of the road.”

Rolling her head to the side, Judith could see Fall’s End in the considerable distance beyond the high grass covering her.

Some part of her just wondered if she could scream loud enough if would someone come get her. Help her.

Groaning, she looked skyward again and tried to will herself to get up.

Get up, Redfox. Get your short, muscular legs underneath you and get your ass into town. You’re only going to get worse if you lie here. Bugs crawling all over you. Open wounds exposed to the elements.

A sharp yelp of pain broke through the calm night as Judith forced herself up into a sit.

Arms shaking, she could just barely make out the damage. “Pride” down the right. “Lust” down the left. Couldn’t read what was on her chest but given the flashes she could remember that fucking whackjob John ranting and raving about ‘wrath’ this and ‘wrath’ that.

She felt she could reasonably assume that ‘wrath’ was carved into her collarbone area.

Shuddering to her feet, Judith has never in her life felt so weak as she took rough and stumbling steps towards the town.

Stuck with nothing but her thoughts as she slowly made her way there. God, fuck, how could she have been this stupid for this long? Where was this supposed to have gone? What did she think was going to happen? Faith suddenly realizes her brothers are full of shit and she happily skips home with Judith?

A white picket fence, two-point-five adopted children and a dog? Hell, they already had the dog. Boomer’d probably love some kids to play with.

Truly, this was her lowest point. Fucking joke of a police officer, failing to do even the most basic facets of her job, and trusting a fucking cult leader. God, this was the only point in time where she was glad that Pratt and Hudson weren’t here. They’d never let her know peace if they knew.

Nevermind, scratch that, she’d actually love to collapse into either of their chests into a deathgrip hug. They can make fun of her all they fucking want if they’d just be okay.

And getting Burke back? He wouldn’t even mock her. If anything, he’d probably just get protective. Especially since what Faith had done to him too. That horrible serenity that she’d pushed his head into.

Can’t talk about them like they’re gone, you’re getting them back, Judith.

And now your stupid ass isn’t going to be focused on chasing the sister of all these freaks.

Each step felt weaker and weaker, stumbling to grab onto the handrail of the church’s steps. You know what? This is good enough.

Getting up the stairs was a monumental effort but once inside Judith was free to roll onto her back once more but this time a little bit safer. At least not exposed to the elements anymore. Safe.

Closing her eyes once more, Judith fell asleep to nightmares of Faith and her brothers tormenting her.

\- - -

“God help us all,” were the first words Judith heard as she woke again.

Groaning awake, she found herself not alone anymore. Blinded by the light streaming in from the window, Judith weakly raised an arm to look at her savior. Pastor Jerome crouched over her, hand on her neck to check for a heartbeat. Quickly pulling it back as she stirred, wave of relief crashing onto his face.

“Yeah, you can stop the gravediggers. I’m still breathing. For now,” Judith weakly joked.

“I’d ask what happened to you but…” Jerome started before trailing off, “Well, your story’s been carved into your very flesh. John Seed.”

John Seed. He was only half of the equation.

Before she could reply, Jerome asked, “Can you move?”

“Probably not. Don’t feel like I can.”

“Well, I guess this is the time we find out if that word carved into your arm is true. Got too much pride for an old man to carry you to Spread Eagle and get you a room?”

“Hell no, I wanna be carried like a sweet little baby,” Judith raised her arms, “Pick me up, Papa Jerry.”

“Alright but only if you promise to never call me that again.”

“I can make that deal.”

\- - -

Despite her claims of lack of pride, Judith had to admit it actually was pretty humiliating to be carried through town like this.

As they walked, Jerome told her what had gone on since her disappearance which turns out had just been ‘everyone’s been looking for you.’ About an hour after she’d wandered away, Jess had gotten paranoid and called ahead to the Ryes to make sure Judith’d actually shown up.

Of course, she hadn’t.

By the time she’d been unceremoniously dumped outside of Fall’s End their search had gone much further out, raking along the edges of Holland Valley and into the Henbane.

But Judith had already made it back, in a way.

Mary May was on them from the second they entered the door, leaving them only to grab the first aid kit from behind the bar. Might as well have a helping hand though and right now Judith had the sneaking suspicion that “let’s make sure these wounds aren't horribly infected” was probably a good idea.

Not that it didn’t sting like an absolute bitch though, even when she collapsed on the soft bed. Judith having to restrain herself from flinching and pulling away from Mary May as she dabbed down the open wounds, absentmindedly prattling off the damage to Judith, “At least they’re not too-too deep… you’re not negatively reacting to the ink either… good… shouldn’t be infected. It almost looks like… it almost looks cleaned already? But why would John care…”

It wasn’t John, Judith thought, it was Faith. Probably did it herself. Probably thought it was romantic.

But of course she wasn’t about to say that to Mary May, coming up with an excuse on the spot, “Joseph wants me alive for his own weird fucking reasons. Probably told him to.”

“I’d ask why they were so interested in you but… well, you’re tearing things up pretty bad for ‘em,” Mary May blushed, “Real easy to see why someone remarkable like you’d be on the top of their list.”

“Good to know I can still make the ladies blush even when I’m cut up like a dissection frog,” Judith groaned, looking down at her arm, “Fuck, that looks really gnarly.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve always liked a girl with tattoos,” Mary May grinned.

Looking up from the bin of lost and found clothing, Jerome gave her a weary look, “Do you want me to leave or is the quiet thrill of flirting in front of a pastor part of this deal?”

“S-sorry Pastor Jerome…” Mary May’s face went even more vibrantly red, “You can stay, I’ve got to get back down to the bar… I’ll bring you lunch in a bit though, alright?”

“Thanks, Mary,” Judith replied, nodding, “I’m… I’ve gotta talk to the pastor about something then I’ll probably clock out for a while. I’m still pretty trashed… this has been a rough like… forty-eight hours.”

At that, Mary May ducked out and left the other two behind. Door clicking tightly shut behind her.

Walking over to the bed, Jerome sat on the end, “You said you had something to talk about?”

“Yeah man, I don’t know much about christianity but legally you’re not allowed to talk about something I tell you in confidence, right? Like that thing with the two boxes and the whole ‘forgive me, father’ stuff?”

“Officer Redfox, you’re a woman of the law. I think you’d know if it was illegal for a pastor to tell people something told in confidence.”

“But like, the pope police. They handle that.”

“I’m going to assume you’re joking,” Jerome raised an eyebrow, “But to enlighten you a bit on the practices of the catholic church we are not supposed to share anything told to us in confessional unless it poses an active threat to someone.”

“Is the fact I don’t believe in any sort of god a barrier to this?”

“No, Judith,” Jerome leaned in, “You’re a woman in need with something clearly weighing on your mind. If you need an unjudging ear to tell something to I’m here to listen.”

“And not tell anybody?”

“And not tell anybody.”

“Even if it’s fucked up?”

“Judith unless you’re telling me something like you’re going around hand personally stabbing innocent people to death in their sleep I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Man, even THINKING about admitting this shit out loud is embarrassing…” Judith groaned, “I don’t even know where to start.”

“If you’d like I can lock your door and you can take all the time you’d like,” Jerome offered. Getting up as Judith nodded to do just that, locking it and sliding the deadbolt into place before sitting back down with his very best understanding look on his face, “Alright, begin.”

“I’ve been seeing Faith Seed. Both romantically and as a Bliss induced hallucination.”

\- - -

“So let me get this straight…” Jerome tried not to sound addled by this information but couldn’t hide the slight tremble in his hands, “Faith can make you or anyone else she’s… infected… hallucinate her being there and then she can see through them?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how she does it but she can.”

“That’s… that’s terrifying…” Jerome mumbled to himself before almost fearfully asking, “Is she here now?”

“No,” Judith shook her head, “She leaves me alone a lot of the time. If I had to guess, it’s some sort of concentration-based skill. She mentions getting a headache if you poof her too much.”

“Poof… her?”

“Yeah she just kinda… dissipates if you put a hand through her or something.”

“Judith this is all very troubling…” Jerome looked down at his still shaking hands, “While I won’t pretend that your… dalliances with a cultist aren’t an issue I honestly find her powers much more concerning…”

“Well, now you know if I’m flailing my arms around like a jackass I’m just making her fuck off… It’s a power but it can be stopped. Less powerful than it could be.”

“That’s true… just means you have to be in high alert but I imagine you already are.”

“Yeah, I mean, considering all they do is kidnap me I’m pretty fuckin’ stressed out twenty-four seven.”

Sighing, Jerome did his best to put on a supportive face, “You’ve really stepped in it and walked around, Judith. Some part of me has to know… why? Why Faith Seed? I’ve seen people interested in you. Hell, Mary May was just flirting with you ten minutes ago. You’re not hard up on options for a partner so why would you pick Faith?”

“I’ve… never been the type to pick the smart option. The safe option. It’s not… the first time I’ve dated someone I really shouldn’t. I don’t know why I do this over and over but I just… I do,” Judith admitted, “That sounds pretty stupid, huh? Bad excuse by a bad person.”

“You’re not a bad person, Judith,” Jerome shook his head, “You’re a self destructive person. It can be good for you but it can also be bad. It’s what makes you throw yourself into harm’s way to protect others no matter what and be a hero. But it’s also what makes you ignore red flags and put yourself in danger for no good reason.”

“Got any tips to be not self destructive?”

“Stop being romantically entangled with a dangerous, manipulative cult leader.”

\- - -

Jerome had left Judith to sleep not long after. Sure it was probably only about two in the afternoon when he’d left but god, she was just… exhausted beyond all measure. The emotional toll, the physical toll…

She’d both earned and didn’t deserve the sleep but the thing is that at the end of the day, you can do whatever you want. Whether you deserve it or not.

Aching, Judith opened her eyes again to find herself in the golden hour. Room basked in an amber light from the window in front of her. Lying on her side she almost enjoyed the view. Light sparkling through some crystal thing dangling from the curtain rod.

Absentmindedly going to put her arm behind her pillow she just ended up quietly yelping in pain as she remembered “right my shitty stupid arms are all cut up and bandaged up like a mummy, can’t lay TOO comfy.”

Closing her eyes again, Judith rolled onto her back and neatly interlaced her fingers over her stomach.

Maybe just sleep some more.

“Are you feeling better?”

Eyes jerking open, Judith forced herself to not react with the fear she felt at the apparition of Faith hovering above her like a spectre. Everything about her floating upwards like a cheap trick in a haunted house.

Faith probably thought it made her look angelic and otherworldly. Beautiful.

Had it been a few days ago perhaps Judith would have agreed.

But today she simply punched an arm forward and, to Faith’s shock, poofed the offending hallucination before rolling over again. Attempting to sleep again even as she knew Faith wasn’t going to be giving up.

True to form, seconds later Faith was back. Even with her eyes closed Judith knew the woman must have been nearly touching her face. Hissing at her, “I asked if you’re feeling better.”

“I was until you showed up,” Judith flicked an arm out again, poofing the woman again and rolled over.

“Look. At. Me.”

Only took her about a second. Must be mad.

Judith lazily gazed over her shoulder at her, “Can you just go? I don’t want to deal with you right now. I’m tired.”

“I’m concerned about y-”

“Do you remember what I said to you?”

“Which part?” Faith floated closer, tilting her head.

“I said I wasn’t going to forgive you.”

“Heat of the moment, overdramatic statements don’t really-”

“Well how about this very sober, very calm proclamation of ‘I’m not gonna play Romeo and Juliet with you anymore, I don’t forgive what you’ve done, and I want you to go away.’ So I don’t really give a shit if you’re concerned about me over something you and your freak brother did to me.”

Still trying to play at caring and concerned, Faith put on her best sad look and started crawling on the bed, “Judith, we had to. The world is ending and if you don’t take all these steps, as unpleasant as they may be… you’ll be left behind. I want to walk hand-in-hand with you through Eden’s Gate So please, cooperate and just… tell me how you’re doing?”

But Judith didn’t have a chance to snap back at that, at least without looking crazy as the door to the room cracked open. Mary May peeking in cautiously before perking up when she realized Judith was awake, “You’re up! Jerome said you’d be sleeping for a while but I kept a plate warm for you. Hopen you like cheeseburgers but who doesn’t?”

“Tell her to leave, I’m not done talking to you,” Faith hissed at the friendly intruder, eyeballing her with distrust.

Ignoring Faith, Judith flicked on the side table’s light, “Thanks, I can just about feel my organs shutting down. Cheeseburgers sound great.”

“I said tell her to lea-” Faith started before Judith intentionally arced her arm a bit weird to send it sailing through the apparition, sending a cascade of green smoke over herself. Taking the plate from Mary Mary eagerly.

“How are you feeling?” Mary May asked as she sat right where Faith had been, unaware that the hallucination nearly instantly reformed behind her. Glaring a hole in her skull.

“Like I got rolled by a semi,” Judith answered, looking down at one of her neatly bandaged arms, “I’m used to bruises and shit but this whole ‘sharp, stinging pain’ is uncomfortably unfamiliar.”

“Oh, so you’ll answer HER?” Faith snipped, leaning against the wall with a sharp look for Judith too.

“Want me to swap your bandages for you? Got a first aid kit in here. I’d be careful with infection these first couple days… had a pretty nasty reaction to their ink myself,” Mary May cast her eyes downward.

“Little fucker got his hands on you too?”

Mary May nodded, patting one of her shoulders, “Yep. On the collarbone like your ‘wrath.’ 

“Sorry to hear that,” Judith replied, “Wish the sheriff’s office would have sent us out sooner. Could have cut things off way earlier and stopped a lot of suffering.”

“I don’t blame you,” Mary May said, grabbing the aforementioned kit and cracking it open before gently beginning to unwrap Judith’s wrappings, “It was so hard to get information in and out of the valley. Hell, if it wasn’t for those whistleblowers I don’t think they’d ever have found out about it until it was too late.”

Judith sucked in air harshly as the cuts resurfaced. “Lust” glaring up at her accusingly. God, what a thing to carve into someone.

“That’s a rough one to be saddled with,” Mary May said, almost as if she could read Judith’s thoughts, “Way more embarrassing. He must have made you fess up to something extremely personal to garner that one…”

“I just have a history of chasing girls I shouldn’t have and he decided that everyone needed to know,” Judith shot a look over Mary May’s shoulder at the not-so-patiently waiting Faith.

“Well, if you ever decide you want to chase someone a bit more respectable… haven’t had many people chasing after me since this all went to shit. Wouldn’t mind a distraction,” Mary May winked, the bright red of her face betraying the false confidence of her words.

Instantly, it was like a smoke bomb had gone off in the room. Green haze swirling around her like a tornado, her head swimming. Only Faith’s silhouette was visible from her waiting place, hovering ominously with her hair floating as if she was underwater.

Of course, this was visible only to Judith who, from Mary May’s point of view, suddenly looked like she was hit by a tranq dart.

“Holy shit, you okay?” Mary May asked, putting a hand on Judith’s ice cold forehead.

“Just… just tired,” Judith mumbled, “Still got the aftereffects of all this hitting me…”

“Here just… let me finish up checking your bandages then I’ll let you sleep some more,” Mary May picked up the pace to finish up, “I’ll leave your food for you, try to eat it when you can… if it gets too cold you can always get some more from downstairs. Help yourself.”

“Sounds… sounds good…” Judith nodded groggily, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

\- - -

True to what she’d said, Mary May had rushed through the bandages. Going as fast as she could while still making sure that everything was secure before quickly ducking out.

Bursting forth from the bliss vortex, Faith’s apparition got right up in Judith’s face. Rage making her almost look inhuman as she growled at Judith, “Oh, so, you’re mad at me so you just go and find yourself the town bicycle to flirt with?”

“I think you’ve got it a little backwards, usually I’m the one sleeping around,” Judith raised her left arm accusingly, “I mean your shithead brother wasn’t wrong. Rude and cruel but not wrong. If you hadn’t come and crashed my party I’d be happily sleeping my way through Hope County for fun. Hell, now I can if I want. Might as well since your big bro basically carved ‘slut’ into my arm.”

“So what, you’ll only hold yourself back if there’s a more difficult conquest to win?” Faith came in even more impossibly close, hands claws on either side of Judith’s head, “Is that what this all would have amounted to? Would you have just left after you’d gotten what you wanted in the orchard?”

“No, Faith,” Judith growled back, “I hold back if I’m taking someone seriously in a romantic sense. But now you’ve ruined that so why should I care?”

But Faith only heard what she wanted to hear. The vortex swirling away as Faith returned to her normal form. Rolling over to lay beside Judith she propped up her head to look at her lovingly, “So you do care.”

“Did care.”

“DO care,” Faith corrected, “You do. Deep down.”

“Or, like I’m telling you, I don’t anymore.”

But Faith didn’t believe her, still looking serene, “It’s not in a person like you to stop caring. I can see your soul, Judith Redfox. You’re mad now but you’ll come back, you’ve been made before.  
We’ll walk through Eden’s Gate together like we’re supposed to. I just know it.”

“A lot of confidence for someone who was just told to fuck off.”

“You’re just tired and sore,” Faith hovered over her again, “I’ll let you rest.”

“Good, get out of here.”

“I love you, I’ll see you in your dreams tonight.”

At that Judith wasn’t given a chance to respond as the ghost leaned towards and planted a kiss on her lips that collapsed green mist all around her. Knocking her out into a deep, deep sleep almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary May is the perfect mix of "I have no investment in her" and "omnipresent" that she can be a perfect placeholder for "person to flirt with Judith and make Faith mad."


	20. Peachy Keen

How Judith got here she couldn’t even begin to know. Sitting at the living room table of an unfamiliar house, everything immaculately set out before her.

But she wasn’t supposed to be here. How did she get here?

Crystal clear, the details of the dining room almost seemed to be imprinting themselves on Judith’s brain. Even the lace of the white tablecloth seemed too bright, too white, twisting pattern hypnotising her.

“Aren’t you going to eat your breakfast?” Faith asked, sharp tilt her head going just a bit too far.

Looking up at her, Judith found her wearing a kitschy old 50’s housewife get up. A weird mockery of her normal dress, white with the same pink flowers just a pattern on it. Almost seeming to move around the fabric.

“W-what?” Judith sputtered out. Looking down at the previously empty table she found herself looking at a spread of breakfast food that made her mouth water.

Unnaturally toddling over in high heels that seemed so out of place on her, Faith dipped cartoonishly to plant a kiss on Judith’s cheek before hovering there. Face too close, too clear, “Aren’t you hungry? Everyone will be here soon to visit before you go to work, honey.”

Honey? What the fuck? Judith’s hand seemed to go through the table itself a few times before zombie-like grabbing the fork which she nearly dropped again at the sound of a crowd of people laughing.

Looking around fearfully she found no one though.

She swore she could hear the individual parts of the pancake breaking apart as Faith reached over her shoulder and stabbed a too sharp fork into them. Ripping off a large piece and holding it up to Judith’s mouth, her smile growing too wide.

The strawberry syrup dripping off of it was too thick and too dark, questionable clots instead of normal chunks of the berry.

But before Judith could stop her from force feeding the grim morsel to her there was a loud ding-dong of a doorbell that felt like it was going to split her skull in half. Deafeningly loud.

As soon as Faith disappeared behind the corner she was back, as if she’d glitched into place. Looking back to the table, Judith wasn’t alone anymore.

None of the brothers looked right.

John’s suit was too old fashioned, weirdly retro like Faith’s dress. Less of his skin was showing but enough was there to see that all of his tattoos were gone. Jacob’s military uniform was similarly wrong, from an era before his time and the… crispy rash? Whatever it was it was gone. Joseph… well actually she’d seen him actually wear the preacher get up a couple times.

The uncomfortable, wide, unnatural smile didn’t look too out of place on ol’ Johnny the homicidal maniac but on Jacob and Joseph it was downright terrifying.

In an effort to look anywhere but the Stepford smiles, Judith looked back down at the table again.

No longer was there a robust breakfast spread. The table instead overspilling with a mountain of gore. Bloody flesh and fileted organs were presented like a Christmas feast. All clearly human. 

But most sickening of all was the centerpiece.

The severed heads of her captive friends, arranged in a neat little circle.

Staci, Hudson, Burke. All sitting there as casual as if the Seed’s had set out a bowl of fruit.

None of the Seeds were phased by this, blood streaming down their faces as they feasted upon the carnage presented to them. Mindlessly chowing down and offering up compliments to Faith on her “cooking.”

Frozen stock still, Judith didn’t even breathe as she watched the horrorshow in front of her.

Only jerking alive again as Faith raised the fork again, bloody pancakes gone and replaced with a hazel eyeball speared on it. Pushing it towards Judith with a cheery, “Open up!”

And she did. Not to accept the offering but to scream soundlessly as she shoved Faith away and stood up. Body straining from the effort but not a single noise coming from her, the Seeds ignoring her as if she wasn’t screeching her brains out at them.

Suddenly, the feeling of being socked in the chest brought her screams to reality.

In a heartbeat, the gorey scene was gone. Judith back in the dark room above the Spread Eagle, a terrified Mary May over her shaking her awake.

The tail of the scream crawled out of her mouth and Judith collapsed back against the pillow, panting.

A nightmare. It was all just a nightmare.

A horrible, vivid nightmare.

“Are you okay?!” Mary May gripped onto her tightly, “Jesus, I think you just shaved several years off my life.”

“Nightmare,” was all Judith rasped out, “Really, really realistic nightmare.”

Mary May hesitated for a second before pulling Judith up into a hug, “God, you’ve seen so much… I can’t imagine what your brain can cook up for you when you’re dreaming…”

Hugging her back, Judith’s thousand yard stare shot over her shoulder at the wall, “You can’t even imagine…”

“Do you want me to get you some water?” Mary May pulled back, looking at her, “It’s kinda early but I could make you some breakfast?”

Breakfast. Like a bolt Judith was up and out of the bed. Another jarred, confused look from Mary May as she watched Judith start frantically digging out clothes, “No, I just… need to get out and get some fresh air. Gotta… gotta do stuff. I don’t know. Something.”

“Are you sure? Your bandages…”

“Yeah, no, I’m fine,” Judith’s hand shook as she tossed her uniform onto the bed, “I’m gonna go get a cougar.”

“Adelaide?”

“No, not figurative. Literal, Peaches.”

“Well, if you want to come back this room probably isn’t going to be rented out anytime soon,” Mary Mary headed towards the door, lingering there with her face red as she bit her lip, “And even if it did get rented out… well, I’ve got a pretty big bed in my own room. Just right across the hallway.”

“I’ll- I’ll keep that in mind...” Judith nodded a bit too curtly but thankfully Mary Mary seemed to take it simply as ‘still shaken from the nightmare.’

As quickly as possible Judith was tearing away from Fall’s End. Why? She wasn’t entirely sure. All she knew was she was freaked the absolute fuck out and she needed to get the hell away from everything and everyone.

Even though she knew that was impossible.

Unpinning a note stuck outside of Peaches Taxidermy, Judith found that the owner had left for a while with only the notes of “if you find Peaches, you can have her” and “there’s bait right inside to help.”

Good, minimal human involvement.

Turning around, Judith was unsurprised to be alone.

Faith was skirting the edges of the property, hands behind her back as she turned around alluringly. Looking quite proud of herself.

“I’ll see you in your dreams tonight,” Judith accused, “That’s what you fucking said. Keep the hell out of my head, I don’t want the kind of sadistic nightmares you apparently think are ‘romantic.’ Fuck off.”

Smile dropped, Faith approached quickly, “Sadistic nightmares? What are you talking about?”

“Whatever you did to me, that was the end result,” Judith backed away from her, “And I know you did, I’ve never had such a vivid dream in my life. You’ve got all those freaky fucking powers.”

“I wasn’t… trying to give you nightmares,” Faith’s disappointment evident, “I don’t have real control over dreams, I can only influence them. All I did was try to include me and my brothers…”

“Well, congratulations asshole, you did it and it was terrible,” Judith turned away, rooting around in the fridge to pull out the bait left for anyone brave enough to try and lure the cougar back.

“Are you okay?” Faith tried to get closer but Judith was faster, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I don’t,” Judith shook her head, “I want you to poof away and leave me the fuck alone.”

“You… you look pale…” Faith caught up with her, tilting her head curiously to see better, “You’re so freaked out… please, talk to me, what did you dream?”

“I’m trying really hard to wipe that vividness from my memory so if you could stop bringing it up that’d be great. Fresh imprint each time. Just know that if you fucking dare do that again… well, I already don’t forgive you so I really don’t know what to tack on. No forgiveness with an extra side of ‘fuck off.’”

Faith dodged an attempted ‘poofing’ swipe at her, “I’m getting really tired of hearing that.”

“Ironically, if you do just that you’ll stop hearing it,” Judith eyeballed her. You’d think with nothing but that and swings to try and get rid of the apparition would be a hint but Faith didn’t care.

Faith was undaunted, deciding to just ignore it. Playing their old ‘let’s pretend this is normal’ schtick by herself. Striding calmly next to Judith, “What are you doing out here anyways? Collecting the cougar?”

“Yes,” Judith flatly, replied, “But really, can you just go?”

“Have you ever seen a cougar up close before? I came here once with John because he wanted to decorate his house. I think taxidermy is a bit ghoulish but he insists it’s a powerful way to show our dominance over animals.”

“Yeah sounds like something a serial killer would say.”

“I supposed the effect is pretty dramatic,” Faith continued as if Judith hadn’t said a thing, “But a house full of corpses isn’t exactly my idea of a home. But it won’t be forever, I supposed, considering we’ll be in the bunkers for so long. Mine is decorated quite nicely, we’ve even been working on growing plants down there.”

But Judith just stomped ahead, not looking at her as she tried to locate her predatory prey.

Thankfully Faith was smart enough to hold her tongue as the creature came into view. Prowling around aimlessly until she set her sights on Judith.

Judith couldn’t help but feel like this feeling of being stalked was familiar.

Faith next to her, unaware of the comparisons being made in her mind.

“Here kitty, kitty,” Judith whispered to Peaches, crouching even further with the meat in her hand, “Let’s get you home. We can be buds then, right?”

If the cougar agreed it wasn’t clear but regardless it eagerly chased after the bloody chunk of meat when she threw it. Running off, Judith left the ghost of Faith in her wake.

Maybe that was a strategy, huh? Takes Faith some effort to unpoof herself so it probably takes some effort to keep teleporting around too. Regardless of its effectiveness, it certainly made Judith feel better to just tear through the forest, lobbing gross chunks of animal, cougar hot on her heels.

Not exactly the type of cougar she was used to chasing after her but still cool.

By the time she got back to the taxidermy place, she was panting but she felt free at least.

Collapsing in a chair outside of the building, she tilted it back against the wall and felt a measure of self satisfaction as Peaches approached her. Letting her scratch her hands through coarse fur as the beast purred quietly like the world’s most deadly housecat.

But she wasn’t granted this peace for long before Faith reappeared around the corner, pouting at her, “Why do you always have to run away from me? Both literally and figuratively?”

Mood instantly soured, Judith looked back to the cougar in annoyance, “Because it’s the only way I can get some goddamn peace and quiet around here.”

Knowing she was in a precarious place, Faith tried to be agreeable, “We could always just sit in silence together… that can be nice. Just find a picturesque lake and cuddle up-”

“Your inability to understand when your companionship is not wanted is simply astounding.”

Fists jolting to her side, Faith yelled back, “You’re horrible, you know that?! I’m trying to be romantic!”

“Yeah words being carved into my flesh, dumping my body in a ditch, then just ghosting around me as a drug apparition. Next big romcom. Cop and the Cultist.”

“You said you’d stop calling the project a cult!”

“When I cared about your feelings.”

Stomping over, Faith stopped a few feet short with her face red in rage, “ALL. I. AM. TRYING. TO. DO. IS. HELP. YOU.”

Looking down at the bag still hanging off her, Judith could still see several large globs of meat. Now that she was still, a moment of crystal clarity made her connect the grisly contents of the bag with her nightmare. Spurred on, most likely, by Faith’s weird obsession with this false domesticity.

Either way she was really, truly done with the woman’s dramatics. It was poofing time.

Grabbing a fistful of the bloody meat, Judith gave Faith a tired glare, “I think it’s time for you to go.”

Given that she’d had plenty of practice throwing shit in this hellhole between the dynamite and grenades she had full confidence in sending this glob of meat sailing through the hallucination and getting some time alone, even if it was just a second.

But what she never would have expected was for the raw meat to smack into a very real, very much physically there Faith Seed.

It had splatted loudly against the woman’s stomach before dropping to the ground, instantly sending giant streaks and splatters of blood all over her formerly pristine white dress. Looking like the woman had taken a shotgun to the gut.

Mouth agape, Faith looked down to the bloody mess and back up to Judith several times.

Frozen like a deer in headlights, Judith similarly was dazed, “Oh s-shit, I didn’t- why are- you’re actually- oh fuck, I’m sorry Fa-”

Judith’s scream earlier was nothing compared the ear piercing, wailing shriek Faith emitted as bliss billowed forth from her like a smoke bomb going off. Instantly turning the area into a toxic cloud as Peaches took off into the forest again.

Seeing nothing but green choking her out, Judith’s chair slid down the wall and sent her crashing to the ground as Faith approached her looking like Carrie.

But as Faith dropped to the ground to whisper something to her she went out cold.


	21. I’m Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I realized I never specified why Judith's high school ex Beau Beaumont intro'd way back in Chapter Seventeen aka "Grace Under Fire" was so detailed but that's my secondary Deputy lmao. I'd like to eventually do a fic about him as well.
> 
> Unlike Judith he's not a huge multiship character, I only ship him with John. That fic is, uh, a little more upbeat than this one is lmao.

Being knocked out was a way of life for Judith now. Nothing about her life was certain anymore, she was completely at the whims of a mad family with nothing but infinite ways to take her out and drag her away.

And she was really, really, really getting fucking sick of it.

As bad at she felt about accidentally nailing Faith with a blood chunk of animal flesh, did she really have to do this?

Before she even opened her eyes, Judith knew where she was. Nothing in Hope County reeked like Jacob’s camps. Blood, urine and wet dog. Sometimes a waft of gunpowder, the only scent close to acceptable.

It wasn’t Jacob leering at her from the other side of the bars though. Not quite yet.

Faith looked just as out of place as the first time Judith had met her in person here. No longer a pair of potential lovers separated only by bars, it felt like there was a gulf between them. Both physically and emotionally.

Her normal white dress was missing, not exactly a surprise considering the last thing that had happened in Judith’s memory. This dress was similar, albeit a little more like a sundress. White with the flowers nothing more than a pattern going down the side. A tank top like cut and a bit longer.

Sitting cross legged on a chair that was similarly too clean for the surroundings, Judith was unsure of how long she’d been waiting for her to wake up.

“You’re finally up,” Faith flatly noted, “You’re making it constantly difficult for me to forgive you, you know that?”

“How long have…” Judith started to ask, looking down at her exposed arms. Frightfully, however long she’d been unconscious it had been enough time for her arms to heal properly.

“Not as long as you think,” Faith tapped on her own arm, “Despite how callous you’ve been to me, Jacob let me take care of you before taking you from me. The Project has a great many skilled doctors, I had them instruct me.”

“I’m… sorry I threw that at you,” Judith gestured at the replacement dress, “In my defense, I really didn’t think you were actually there. Usually you’re not.”

Through gritted teeth, Faith seethed, “I thought it would be a romantic surprise.”

“Look, we’re not in a position where surprises are a good idea for so many reasons.”

Standing up, Faith took a few steps to rest her hands against the bars, “I thought it would make you happy, not being alone. Comforting. And you threw a bloody piece of cougar bait at me.”

“I’ve got much more serious shit I can hold against you, I wouldn’t choose this as your hill to die on,” Judith tapped on her chest, where ‘wrath’ was carved into her, “And even though I feel bad because that’s disgusting, I still don’t forgive you.”

“You’re impossible,” Faith said, extending her hands through the bars of the cage, “Come here.”

“What, so you can stroke my hair while Jacob projects me into a nightmare realm? Don’t think that’ll make the experience any more enjoyable for me. Didn’t fucking do it for the tattoos.”

“Come. Here.” she insisted, hands making little grabby motions despite the affectionless glint in her eyes.

Sighing, Judith didn’t know why but she got up and let Faith grab her hands tightly. Some lingering guilt? Made no sense, considering how much more Faith had done to her than she’d done to Faith.

But whatever the reasoning, she let Faith hold onto her hands as she spoke, “I know you don’t trust me or believe me or forgive me or… so many other things but I know you were lying when you said you don’t care about me or my feelings.”

Judith’s grunt in response only made Faith grip her hand tighter.

“But even if you don’t for me… I trust you. I believe in you. I forgive you. I just hope one day you can return all that back to me.”

While Judith tried to pull away as she heard footsteps but Faith held strong. Not caring as Jacob and Pratt came into view. Jacob unsurprised and expecting this. Pratt disappointed but unsurprised.

“Alright, visiting hours done,” Jacob easily pushed Faith away with a firm hand on her shoulder, “Go on, get out of here. Flounce around in a field for a while, you’ll feel better.”

Left alone with them, Judith found herself subjected to another monologue by the ugliest of the Seed brothers while her closest friend dragged a knife across his face. Equally as helpless at the hands of his respective Seed captor.

Except, unlike her, he hated his Seed like he should. Warily eyeing her, knowing exactly what was going on from years of experience dealing with his unruly friend yet never having expected her questionable taste to extend quite this far.

But at the core of it, he wasn’t surprised.

\- - -

Something felt off when she was in Jacob’s nightmare world, like something she was doing wasn’t to his liking. Something was off. She could hear his voice over getting frustrated despite his best efforts to stay sounding calm and smugly assured of his own success.

She didn’t know what it meant. All she knew was each twist through the distorted red world she tried something different to jar herself out of it. Unwittingly going exactly against the patterns Jacob was trying to set, her bullheaded, contrarian nature for once in her life doing her some good.

Eventually she’d shamble vaguely in the direction of the hoops he wanted her to jump through, just enough to pass, but never drilling it into her head.

Several times he tried this, Judith not really knowing how many days were passing but if she had to wager a guess she’d say it have probably been a week or so.

Jacob apparently thought monologuing at her would help but it certainly wasn’t, if anything it was just making her more combative. He even had Faith show up a few times to try to talk to her. All uneventful conversations that just made her shields go up more.

After long enough Jacob decided that trying to starve her out might help.

It had been about a day since he’d decided on this course of action.

But as night fell, an unexpected visitor stopped by.

Judith had fallen asleep against the bars of the side, just doing anything to not sleep with her face in the mud again. Sure, it was soft but Jacob wasn’t exactly handing out showers left and right.

A firm grip on her shoulder woke her up, a jarring separation from the Seeds who just kind of stare at her until she wakes up.

In a life that felt eons away it wasn’t unusual for her to be woken up by Staci.

He was her roommate after all and they were both equally bad at getting up in the morning. It was up to whoever dragged themselves out to the kitchen and down a coffee first to wake up the other one.

Staci was a fan of ripping off the covers like a matador, Judith was fond of taking a running leap and cannonballing on top of him. Nothing like a headlock in the morning.

Despite the fact she tended to leave bruises all over him from roughhousing, he never seemed to mind.

There was more than just a few light bruises on the dude this time though. One hell of a shiner was darkening one of his eyes, a thick cut up the side of his face, traumatized look in his eyes. And actually, now that she was thinking about it, he was gripping her shoulder way too tight.

“Jesus, are you trying to dislocate my shoulder?” Judith pinched his hand to make him let go, “I mean, fuck, glad to see you without one of the blue eyed freaks watching over us but-”

“We have to go, right now,” Staci fished out a key from his pocket, “You- you need to get out of here, You can’t- he can’t- you can’t keep getting captured like this.”

“I mean it’s not exactly like I’m waiting happily in line to get knocked out and dragged to this fucking place,” Judith protested as Staci started anxiously unlocking the door, hands shaking so bad he could barely get the key in, “I don’t want to be here anymore than you want to be here.”

At the thick clunk of the lock opening, Staci swung the door open. Behind him another prisoner asked about his own freedom only to be answered by “YOU’RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH” shouted back at him.

Judith barely had enough time to get to her feet before her wrist was grabbed by Staci, nearly making herself trip over herself multiple times as she tried to keep up with strides that were much longer than her own. It was uncomfortable watching the defeated faces of the other prisoners as they ran past.

Twisting inside the building, eventually they reached a room Staci had deemed “safe enough” to stop his determined marching in. It almost looked like a war room and Judith supposed that wouldn’t exactly be off brand for Jacob.

Especially with the touch of paranoid that always seemed to infect anything the Seeds did.

Pulling her towards the classic fuckjob features of “cork board of pictures and pins” Staci frantically pointed at parts of it like it would hold any significance for Judith other than ‘well, Jacob’s got a creepy picture of me that I don’t know when he took it that’s not unsettling or anything.’

His words barely made sense to her, sentences uncharacteristic fragments frantically babbled at her, “You can’t- this can’t keep happening, Judith. Stay out of the mountains- Jacob can’t- only you can st- there’s nothing else but he gets. in. your. head. There’s nothing else out there- not Eli- not the Militia- you’re- you’re too much.”

“Right now YOU’RE being too much,” Judith clamped down on both of his upper arms, him jolting before going still and calm for the first time since he’d gotten her out, “Calm down, man. You’re so jittery I’m half afraid you’re gonna drop dead from a heart attack before I can even get you out of here.”

Staci seemed almost alarmed at the idea of getting out of here, nervously looking out the balcony doors at the night sky as if he was afraid it was going to swallow him up. At least his sentences were sentences though, “What’s… what’s even really going on out there? I don’t- I can’t trust what they tell me. You’re... I can trust you.”

Apparently Jacob was keeping him in the dark, made sense, “It’s… not great but there’s pockets of resistance. There’ll be places you’re safe once you’re out. Hell, if you’re not object to still being my roommate I think I could get the Ryes to agree with you staying out in the hangar with me.”

It was bizarre to watch simultaneous massive relief and endless fear set off on the face of her dear friend. But he nodded, “That… that sounds nice.”

“See, everything’s gonna be fine,” Judith rubbed his arms, still holding them tight against him, “It’s scary but I have everything under control.”

She could see something clunk into place behind his eyes though.

“Judith, I know,” Staci looked her dead in the eye, “I’m not stupid, I’ve watched you make just- constantly- all the time you do things like this but this is just… this is the worst. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve had to watch you do and I’ve watched you give your number to a chick we caught hotboxing in a goddamn Denny’s parking lot. Things aren’t all fine and you don’t have everything under control.”

Faith. Of course Staci knew, he wasn’t stupid even though Hudson was always telling him he was.

He’d seen them together twice now and even with something as mild as ‘holding hands’ it was obvious the stupid web she’d been weaving for herself.

“Staci, I… it’s under control, alright?” she started, “We’re just-”

“The only way that shit could be under control would be if you swapped sides and you’re too fucking stubborn to just… hell, Jacob’s fucking pissed you don’t do things like you’re supposed to and his whole thing is getting people to do what he says.”

Judith looked down, knowing he was right. Things… things weren’t in her control as much as she liked to pretend they were.

“Look, I’ve seen Faith outside of what she presents to you,” Staci grabbed her arms as well, a weird locking of their arms together as he started pulling her towards the balcony, “I’m sure she’s got some shiny little package she presents you of some perfect little angel. They meet right here though because it’s- it’s safer here, it’s Jacob’s place- he’s got the manpower and-”

Both of their heads jerked up at the sudden distorted audio spilling from the omnipresent speakers, ‘Only You’ beginning to play. Instantly the red started to claw at the edges of Judith’s eyes. Something else was coming into view as well. Green mist twisting around Staci as he began to panic, chattering on and on about how he’d been planning this for so long, too late, too late, not yet, not yet.

Looking over his shoulder, Judith could see Faith standing in the corner. Dead gaze watching her, leaving Judith wondering exactly how long she’d been there. Listening.

The mist only thickened as the apparition disintegrated. Green and red starting to blind Judith as she felt the uncomfortable familiarity of her world slipping away again.

But it didn’t come. Instead, Staci managed to gather himself for just long enough. Steeling himself.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said before he firmly shoved Judith’s shoulders, sending her falling backwards over the railing of the balcony.


	22. Original Sin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, A Test Of Faith has rolled over into being the reigning champion of "Longest Fic Cat Has Written To Date"!
> 
> And the show's not over yet! This fic is really setting a new precedent for what constitutes as a "long fic" from me. There's still so much stuff to go down.

What Staci had said to her echoed in her mind over and over.

I’ve seen Faith outside of what she presents to you.

I’m sure she’s got some shiny little package she presents you of some perfect little angel.

They meet right here.

What do they say when they meet there? Apparently Jacob’s forgotten that Staci has ears and a mouth and is capable of hearing and communicating, as much of a lapdog as he seems to consider the man.

Why couldn’t he have jumped over the balcony with her? Why didn’t he? He could be lying next to her right now, his spine fucking hurting like hell too as the truck drove her to an unknown destination.

I mean, it was good she got out but augh, did he really have to slam her into a truck?

And her first action post-cult would be to fix the endless potholes, each one jumping her body on the roof and another jolt of pain.

Man, she should have given Staci a hug while she could. 

He was scared. Maybe that was it. Some part of his mind tethered to there, feeling that Jacob would only find him again, hurt him again. But his plan… what she could piece together of it from his word vomit, was for him to go too. Perhaps the panic of the sirens going off had thrown it all out of his head.

Eventually the truck stopped and Judith peeked over the edge, waiting until the Peggie driving it walked inside the warehouse to drop off whatever he was delivering.

Rolling off the other side, Judith took off into the forest.

\- - -

For a week, Judith just… existed. Doing a grand tour of “places I can crash in Hope County” she found herself blissfully- or rather, bliss-lessly- alone. For whatever reason, Faith was leaving her be for once.

She wasn’t complaining. It was like a vacation from bullshit, mostly.

Nobody was complaining about it, actually. Judith had already done so much for them, if she needed some time to recover she could have it in spades.

A night with the Ryes. Macaroni and cheese and board games before debating baby names with them. Nick was insistent on ‘named after me’, Kim had a whole list of varied names, and Judith wouldn’t stop suggesting they name the child ‘Peggy.’ They didn’t appreciate the irony, smacking her with a pillow each time.

A night at Chateau Boshaw. Microwave meals, copious beer and karaoke before passing out on the couch. Waking up on the ground, apparently Sharky is a sleep shover and she’s a sounder sleeper than she thought.

A night with Grace and Jess at the Armstrong cabin. Venison burgers from a bunch of dead deer Jess had dragged back home, a single arrow in each’s skull. Horror stories told with a flashlight under their chin.

A night at Fort Drubman. Well, outside it. Ol’ Hurk Sr. hadn’t taken kindly to Judith’s insistence in pointing out that he was, in fact, the immigrant and SHE was the one who was a “natural born American.” They had a couple of tents, sleeping bags and a campfire though. Hotdogs and s’mores.

A night at the Spread Eagle. To Mary May’s disappointment, Pastor Jerome was there all evening with them. Somehow, indulging too much in the pretzels and beer felt weird while a holy man watched them. Even as unjudgemental as he was trying to look. Although Judith's discomfort didn't peak until Jerome pulled her aside later, checking up on the Faith situation. Even though he seemed relieved that she answered in the negative to having any positive interactions with the woman.

A night down at Drubman Marina. Cheesecake and an almost too tempting offer to share a bed with Adelaide. Only stopped by the fear that perhaps this would be the night Faith would reappear.

After all Faith had implanted a new lingering fear in Judith. That night talking to Pratt was the first time Faith had ever just… lurked. Using her powers not to just connect to Judith, to talk to her.

That night, she’d just been watching her.

The circle not unbroken, Judith had looped back to her little place in Nick's hangar.

This time a quiet night to herself. Just hanging out in her little lift, lying on her back and staring lazily at the ceiling. Nothing. Wonderful, quiet nothing.

Until there was something. Two sharp knocks at the hangar door and the sound of paper sliding across the concrete floor. Slid under the door's crack. Bright white against the concrete when Judith looked down at it.

Climbing down the ladder Judith scooped up the letter and peeked outside into the night, knowing that the courier most likely would have fled by now. She was right.

Looking back down at the letter she didn't recognize the handwriting but that's not surprising. She'd only know the handwriting of her co-workers. Staci's ugly scribble, Hudson's neat and surprisingly girly script, Burke's hurried streaks, Whitehorse's neat cursive. This wasn't quite cursive, almost too loose to properly be that. Legible though, at least.

The outside simply read “Judith”. The inside a quick order, not request, to meet the mysterious sender at the 8-bit Pizza Bar.

Of course, Judith's first thought was “Faith” but thinking on that… real risky place to meet. Considering the occasional attempted raids on the place the cult knew it was a noted resistance hangout.

If not her… handwriting looked fairly feminine. Probably not Jess or Grace on that note. Kim wasn't exactly waddling around Hope County and is also about a couple hundred feet away. That left Adelaide and Mary May. Considering both had expressed interest in her she supposed this wasn't the weirdest thing she could receive. If them sneaky date or just skipping the date to something more… carnal. Don't know what to do if that with the cloud of “Faith can show up anytime she wants”.

This is the weirdest breakup ever. Your ex as a ghost that will absolutely flip shit and knock you out if you so much as look at another person.

Hell, beyond that, maybe they were throwing a little pizza party for her. Oh man, actually that would be ideal. All the fun, none of the crazy cultist danger looming over you.

Regardless of the outcome, not going just simply wasn't an option in her mind.

What can Judith say, she loves surprises.

\- - -

You know, when no ones attacking you, knocking you out, and dragging you around to mutilate or traumatize you it's actually really beautiful outside in Hope County at night. Stars twinkling above, crickets and other wildlife making soft noises, everything illuminated by the moonlight.

Judith took a moment outside, looking up as she sat on the ATV. Just enjoying it.

But she had something to get to.

Swinging a leg over she walked inside the darkened building. Stepping into the main room, Judith instinctively went to turn the light on but she didn’t need to, her intended target lightly illuminated by a small lamp on a large table.

For once there wasn’t really any question of this being the real Faith.

Idly, she fiddled with a walky-talky in her hand. Watching Judith cautiously.

Still, she was out of her normal dress leaving Judith to wonder if she’d permanently destroyed it. A white tank top with a flower pattern on the front and an ankle length skirt, same color. If she wasn’t so annoyed Judith might be impressed with how Faith has managed to only get one of her all white ensembles destroyed, environment considered,

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to show up a place like this,” Judith approached the table, floorboards creaking underneath her, “Could have real easily been someone other than me walking through those doors.”

“No,” Faith shook her head, twirling the walky-talky against the table, “I have many eyes, all watching out for me.”

An area lockdown, Judith supposed. Peggies probably littering the area, told only to let her through. Joseph help them if one of her friends actually showed up though considering all of them had proven themselves more than capable of taking down cultists with ease.

Sitting across from Faith, Judith interlocked her fingers and rested them on the table, “So what is this? Why am I here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“You do that literally all the time. ‘Cept this last week, kinda enjoy the me-time”

“In person,” Faith clarified, edge of annoyance in her voice, “We haven’t been face to face since-”

“Since your whackjob brother carved words into my arms and chest?” Judith let go of her own hand to tap on the ‘lust’ disgracing her arm before crossing them on the table again, “Yeah, believe me, I have very sharp, acute memories of this. Plenty of nightmare fuel for the rest of my life there.”

Judith didn’t resist as Faith reached over the table and gently grabbed her right hand, uncurling it to her side of the table and gently running her other hand over the healed over cuts. Still tender though and causing her to lightly flinch, Faith keeping her arm in place. Holding firmly onto her as she raised her arm to her lips and softly kissing the back of Judith’s hand.

She sounded genuinely in pain as she murmured, “I wish things didn’t have to be this way.”

“I don’t either but this is how things are,” Judith pulled her hand away this time, even as Faith rubbed her face against it like a cat, “You said you wanted to talk about something and I suggest you get it out before one of your ‘eyes’ gets poked out. Really don’t think your men will hold up to mine.”

“Really didn’t have anything particular in mind,” Faith admitted, “I just wanted to reconnect, we’ve ended up so far apart. I wanted to bridge that gap again.”

“Christ, Faith,” Judith rubbed harshly at her temples, groaning, “You really don’t take clear rejections for an answer do you?”

“I don’t think it’s as clear as you’d like to pretend it is.”

“I dunno, ‘leave me alone’ is a pretty clear message from where I’m sitting.”

“See, that’s the thing though. You’re sitting there. Surely you must have known, deep down, that the letter was from me.”

Pursing her lips, Judith had to admit for all her justifications that it must be from someone else… she knew.

She knew and even more secretly, she hoped.

“Not to mention it wouldn’t be hard for you to overpower me. Handcuffs hang from your belt loop, do they not? But you’re not bending me over the table and cuffing me, dragging me back to your people. You’re sitting there. Talking to me.”

“You’ve got your freaky bliss powers, you’d just knock me you and, I dunno, carve your name into my ass or something. Whatever else you guys do to the people you capture.”

“It’s not just the lower ranks, Judith,” Faith ignored the dig as she brought her hands up, gripping the straps of the tank top, “We all have done the trials necessary to walk through Eden’s Gate.”

Normally when someone was pulling down their shirt for Judith it was merely a precursor to something a bit more fun. This time, it was purely function, exposing Faith’s own marred sternum. “Envy” carved into it, a crude depiction of an element of Faith that Judith had become well acquainted with these past few months.

Somehow, despite having seen both John and Joseph carved up it had never really occurred to her that Faith must have something etched on her, somewhere. Felt kinda stupid because she’s clearly contemplated that Jacob must have one hidden away and, hell, Faith had an exposed tattoo on her arm.

“I don’t have as many as you, I’ll admit,” Faith let go of the shirt and put a hand on her shoulder, “But I have ‘pride’ across my back as well.”

“Guess I’m just lucky, gotta catch ‘em all, right?” Judith looked down at her arms, “I don’t really know what all John’s out there digging into people but from where I’m sitting having ‘lust’ on my arm is pretty much the worst one. Talk about a scarlet fuckin’ letter.”

Again, Faith grabbed at Judith’s hand. The other woman tolerating being grabbed at, even as Faith traced the sensitive cuts as if she was writing them anew, “We all have our demons. You’ve… well, I didn’t have to tell John about your history, he already knew. Some quip from Hudson or something.”

That sounded right. Hudson was always the first to point out that particular facet of Judith’s life. Perhaps her failed courtship of her way back when they first met.

Maybe in some way it was a sore point to her still close friend that it failed.

This was irrelevant at this point in her life though, Hudson far away and out of fight. The sister of her captor looking at the word on her arm with an uncomfortable intensity.

Looking up at her, for once Faith looked a bit unsure, “I want to ask you a question.”

“Uh, sure?” Judith replied a bit reluctantly. A bit put off by the sudden change in the tone of the conversation.

“I left you alone this week, the entire week,” Faith confirmed the fact she truly hadn’t been watching Judith at any point, peering up at her through long lashes with deep concern, “I do know you stayed with a great many people though. Just because the Project keeps track of where you are.”

Wow, that’s a sure a hell of a comforting thing to know.

“So, your question being?”

“Have you… been with anyone else in this past week? Lustfully?”

She almost sounded like she didn’t want to know the answer as her index finger absentmindedly circled the offending trait carved on Judith's left arm while she waited. Looking rather like someone who was bracing themselves for a physical blow, all but her arms covering her head.

“No and not without offers,” Judith admitted, not sure why she was intent assuring the woman so thoroughly, “Hell, I haven’t technically been with anyone since I got here considering you and me got interrupted. Probably the longest I’ve gone without sex in my entire life.”

Letting herself breathe with a heavy and delighted sigh, Faith’s face softened as she beamed, “Really?”

“I mean, for a while there we were… some sort of couple or something and I’ll womanize and… mananize? when I’m single but I’m no cheater. Even if it’s something that’s kind of in the air.”

“That’s because you’re a good person,” Faith cooed at her, pressing Judith’s hand tightly against her own cheek, “A great person, really. You can be difficult and stubborn but at your core… you care.”

It was far from the first time Judith had had those sentiments aimed at her but it always hit home. Despite her, despite Faith, despite the situation, she found herself grinning like a damned fool. Shaking her head and poorly denying, “I’m not perfect.”

“No one is,” Faith let go of Judith’s hand. For a second, it just looked like Faith was getting up to leave but instead she got her legs underneath her and began to crawl across the sturdy wooden table towards Judith. Elegantly flipping over to sit right in front of Judith, long leg arcing over her lap to envelope her.

One leg on either side of Judith, the situation was unambiguous. Leaning back, Faith was looking at her through heavy lidded eyes with almost reverence. Skirt pulling taut and riding up as she sprawled out uncharacteristically inelegantly. Lacy, flowery, mint green underwear growing more and more visible.

Judith shouldn’t. She should get up and leave, right now. She shouldn’t have come here tonight in the first place. She should have turned around the second she saw Faith and left. She shouldn’t be even considering doing what she was thinking about doing.

There were lots of things she should do.

Lots of things she shouldn’t do.

But Judith knew one thing with absolute certainty and that was that she doing going to do a great number of things she shouldn’t do right here, right now.

Lunging forward, Faith happily let herself get pushed back by Judith. Just as content to gaze up at her lovingly as the uniform that signified the job that she was very much failing to do fell away.

Badge clattering loudly against the wooden floor as her shirt slid off the edge of the table.

But Judith didn’t care as she gave in, falling upon Faith like a hungry animal.

All teeth and claws, feasting upon the forbidden fruit of the New Eden at long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I struggled how to tastefully fade to black at the end of this (as I don't like to write truly graphic sex scenes into my full length stories) but when in doubt, biblical allegories.
> 
> I have been carefully branching out into naughtier fics on a separate account and have a couple planned for this particular ship. No idea when I'll get on it but, uh, I'm just gonna straight up be tagging those fics with "Judith Redfox" same as these so keep an eye out in the coming weeks/months if you're curious lmao. ;3c


	23. Blind Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, i've had a busy couple weeks here but finally kinda normal? still kinda busy week but getting used to it

Waking up naked on a table was a first for Judith. Woken up in many weird places before but never on a table before.

Being naked asleep in a public place wasn’t one hundred percent but when her eyes opened immediately she felt fear at being so exposed in such a situation as tenuous and dangerous as “in the middle of cult territory.”

Even with one of the leaders of said cult curled up happily against her side. Managing to look immensely smug even snoozing soundly.

This was fucked, she’d fucked up. Judith had never been one to abstain but for once in her life, she had.

The crazy part was, even as it had happened, actively in her mind she’d known she hadn’t forgiven Faith. Highlighted now by the dull ache of the word carved into her arm, pressed down by Faith’s weight against her.

But what could she do? It’s not like she can turn back time.

Her uncomfortable squirming against the harsh wooden table jostling Faith, her happily blinking awake. Judith could feel her eyelashes brushing against her neck as she nuzzled against her, “Good morning.”

Judith was at an absolute loss of what to say in return. It wasn’t a good morning it was a bad morning and Judith had done some very, very bad things. Irreparable things.

But as she went to come up with some sort of excuse for this transgression, Faith just pushed herself up on her elbows with a content grin, “Oh, don’t worry about whatever excuse you’re brewing up there. I know what you’re going to say. This is a mistake, we shouldn’t have done this, we can’t let this go on.”

“I… that’s…” Judith sputtered out, briefly concerned that she could read minds.

But no, Faith simply had her pinpoint perfect. Serene smile on her face as she replied, “You’re going to bluster around, act like you’re making some big statement. That you don’t forgive me, that this is wrong. But you’re just going to come back to me just like you always do. We’re going to be together forever.”

“That’s not…” Judith replied, sitting up as she followed after Faith. Swinging her legs over the edge of the table she brushed her long hair over her bare back. Hiding the “pride” carved into her skin, visible for just a second.

“Yes, yes it is,” Faith replied, seemingly unconcerned with being naked in the broad sunlight. Turning like a runway model, practiced, elegant. Smug in her belief, “You will. I was concerned about tonight… meeting you so exposed. But you’re really not going to do anything, are you? Your bark is so much worse than your bite, when it comes to me at least.”

Judith wanted to snap back that she wasn’t. That she was going to take her in, that this was over, that she was arresting her like she should. Her pants were just on the bench, it would be all too easy to grab the handcuffs from that and detain the perp.

But Faith was just standing there, completely bare to her.

And she wasn’t moving.

She just watched in her dumb silence as Faith started getting redressed, happily pulling her clothes back on as easy and normal as if they’d done this a million times. It didn’t go without note from Judith that the woman doesn’t wear a bra, just pulling the tank top down over bare flesh.

“Are you just going to gape like a fish or are you going to get dressed too?” Faith placed a hand on her hip, the other sweeping over Judith’s discarded garments.

“I… I guess?” Judith replied, following suit, “I don’t get the whole rush, I mean, if no one came all night.”

When Judith finished pulling her shirt down she found Faith standing way too close to her face. Inching even closer, she looped her arms around Judith’s waist leaning in even closer, “I’m glad you came.”

Before Judith could make a dirty joke about that she found herself accosted by Faith again, ducking to press a firm kiss against her lips.

It ended as soon as it begun, almost obnoxiously chaste in the wake of what had happened last night. Even going as far as to pull away complete just a second later.

But it was obvious why. Exhaling green Judith only had a few more seconds left of consciousness. Dropping to her knees before slowly, slowly lowering to the ground. Helplessly looking up at Faith smiling calmly down at her, a familiar sight in unfamiliar circumstances.

“I’m glad you came,” Faith tilted her head, smiling widening as Judith’s vision went dark.

\- - -

“Walk the path.”

Burke’s voice was still unnatural and foreign to her.

Opening her eyes to look up at him, she found it wasn’t just him that was wrong. The entire world a misty, blissful green. Sickening.

Pushing herself up she found her legs wobbling underneath her but it didn’t stop her from awkwardly propelling herself toward Burke with an arm outreached towards his own extended one.

Burke had never been the closest to her back before all this. Judith’d usually found herself sandwiched between Staci and Hudson but, if she was honest, she’d always preferred assignments where Burke was her back up.

No offense to her friends but he was easily the toughest dude on the force.

Unflappable, unyielding, unphased by whatever was thrown his way.

But now… he was this. A green-eyed zombie.

Grabbing firm hold his hand wasn’t much of a comfort but Judith had expected as much. Still better than being alone in some capacity, at least. An anchor in this swimming, ghastly green world.

It was somehow even less of a comfort as he started walking with her. Wobbling after him like a drunken baby duck.

A tree in the distance was probably their target, given that it was the only feature in this empty void. People were sitting in a circle underneath it, listening to a sole standing figure. Growing closer only revealed that figure to be Joseph Seed and the circle sitting around him as various cultist underlings.

Arriving there, Burke promptly pulled away his hand and sat among the circle. Leaving a space for Judith to sit as well.

But she didn’t. Standing there, glaring Joseph in the cold, dead eyes.

She knew the man had thoughts and emotions, plenty of them, but something about the way he could conceal them weirded her out.

Judith wasn’t allowed her staring contest with Joseph for long though, Faith snaking around her side some thin air, notedly back in her normal lacy dress. Now unsullied, not a trace of the blood left on it. Gazing at her lovingly, “Green looks good on you.”

Looking down at her police uniform, ironically it was a reminder of what she should be doing. Her answer flat, “Yeah, wear a lot of green. Kind of have to and all. Cop.”

Clearly annoyed that Judith has already slipped back into her combative mode, Faith took both of her hands in her own, “I just wanted you to have time with the Father. You’ve barely spoken to him since you got here.”

Looking over at him still intensely staring at her, Judith was more than alright with that.

But Faith wasn’t.

She dropped down into an elegant crouch, dragging Judith down with her.

Never in her life had Judith been at any sort of Christian, or frankly otherwise, preaching event and maybe it was just the fact this involved looking up the nose of a dangerous cultist but she wasn’t a fan.

On and on he droned about his doomsday daydreams. The world’s coming to an end. Hate is taking over. We have to protect ourselves and get ourselves ready for the New Eden. Blah blah blah. Were normal sermons this boring?

Even the weird apparitions of the supposed apocalypse in the mists of the bliss weren’t enough to make Judith care a lick for Joseph’s ramblings.

But for all of Judith’s indifference, next to her Faith was enraptured. Her vice grip on Judith’s arm half of why she was sticking around, the other half being “where the fuck am I supposed to go?”

Judith couldn’t help but wonder what the world would be like through Faith’s eyes. To just… trust someone so obviously untrustworthy. To look at a man who screams “weird cultist” from the tip of his greasy manbun to the soles of his dirty feet. To not flinch at the sheer brutality of the eldest and youngest brothers.

She wasn’t even connected at the beginning. No blood ties like the brothers.

Was it different at the beginning? Was there a time where Joseph didn’t preach of the world ending like a homeless man screaming on a street corner?

Based on what she’d been able to glean about the cult’s progression so far the answer seemed to be a firm “no.”

So why would Faith be so blind?

She must have been young. Suppose that could always be a part of it. Maybe she’s simply been here since she was a child, she’s only twenty-four. Seems to work with the timeline.

Thinking about that only made Judith angrier at Joseph, really accomplishing for Faith the opposite of what she wanted. Her dead eyed stare up at Joseph working its way into a stern, determined glare.

Of course, Faith was sneaking peeks at Judith’s face constantly. Trying to see something connect like she had with so many newfound parishioners before her.

But nothing but a growing rage.

Clinging tighter to Judith’s arm, Faith wondered what she was doing wrong. None of this had even backfired so much before. Even the Marshal across from them had eventually fallen to their ways.

Why was Judith so different?

\- - -

It went on for so, so long. Judith had some vague concept of how long a church service was conceptually but she’d never sat though one in a drugged up haze before.

The worst part is there wasn’t even anything to look around at. Just Joseph, Faith, Burke, a couple random people, a tree, then swirling green nothingness.

Not to mention she was really not enjoying the concept of being in the bliss for so long. Talk of losing yourself to it was forefront in her mind.

But at the same time, she had no idea how to leave it of her own volition.

So she just had to sit there, the Seeds’ captive as always.

When it was done it almost seemed like the followers, including Burke, ghosted away. Not quite the intensity of Faith’s poofing but just sort of… wisping away.

Leaving Judith alone with the Seeds.

She felt extreme comfort as Joseph dropped to sit as well, glad to finally not be at ass height of the man telling her repeatedly she was going to burn in the apocalypse if she didn’t hope on the magic cult bus.

Granted, eye height to him wasn’t great either considering now it was a staring contest with the leader of the whole damn cult. Whatever he was thinking as unreadable as always but Judith supposed it must not be bad considering the tightness of Faith’s grip on her arm and the blindingly genuine smile on her face.

“Faith has told me about last night, of course,” he flatly droned, like he hadn’t dropped some deeply disgusting bomb on her.

Judith instantly whipped her head over to Faith, mortified, but found her just looking down at her adoringly. Apparently not thinking it’s fucking weird as shit to share your sex life with your weirdly older adoptive brother-father cult leader c’mon you’ve gotta realize that’s fucking weird Faith.

But Joseph went on, “Faith told me you came to her last night for atonement for your wrongs against her. That you talked all night about your future together. Your fears about abandoning your misplaced duty as a police officer and joining us.”

Oh, alright, didn’t tell him what happened. That’s less horrible. A lie and horrible in it’s own way. But not “Joseph knows I banged his sister.”

“I am, of course, supportive of this,” Joseph reached out and grabbed her hand, oh don’t like that, as he leaned in closer because he hates personal space, “But as resistant as you are, you have to walk the same path as the rest of us. There are no shortcuts to salvation.”

Yeah, yeah, I mean, it’s not exactly a choice at this point so I don’t imagine they’ll have any trouble throwing her though the necessary hoops.

“The last thing we want is for you to not make it into the New Eden,” Joseph continued, god, even closer to her face, “If you’re going to marry Faith it’s going to be necessary. None of us want her to be a widow in her young age, let alone one whose wife burned to death in the throes Great Collapse.”

Marriage? Marriage?! Fucking hell, not only had Faith lied about exactly what had transpired but thought it meant…

“We’re n-” Judith started to blurt out in a blind panic before Faith reached up. Neatly disguising covering her mouth as pulling her into a tight hug. Crushing her against her shoulder. Surprisingly strong.

“Thank you, Father,” she cooed, keeping Judith tightly pressed against her, “I’ll make sure she does everything she needs to.”

Judith grunted as she was let go. Watching Joseph do that weird head bump thing she’d seen him do to John to Faith as well. Wanting to again deny the supposed wedding they were headed towards but instead the hand on the back of her head knock reasonable thought out of her head. Replaced only by ‘no, no, don’t do that weird gently headbutt thing to me, ew, no’.

Of course, no amount of thinking stopped Joseph from doing it. Unpleasantly, Judith noted that his forehead felt as greasy as it looked.

As he left go of her it was like he instantly faded into a mist, as if the wind had swept him away.

Leaving just her and Faith.

“You lied to him,” Judith accused, finally coming to her senses.

Faith curled a lip in disgust, “He doesn’t need to know the technical elements of what happened last ni-”

“Hell no, he doesn’t but he also doesn’t need to be thinking that we’re going to be getting married either,” Judith spat back, “There’s a middle ground, you know that right? You jumped from big lie to big lie.”

“Sometimes lies become the truth,” Faith calmly fished out a chain from under her dress. To Judith’s dismay, dangling off of it were two matching rings. Golden, mostly plain aside from the Peggie cross on it. Diamond in the center. Faith mistook Judith’s shell shocked silence as positive, “Beautiful, aren’t they? John helped me, he not only found a competent jeweler in the valley but he paid for them!”

“Faith, this is insane-” Judith tried to rebuke her but the other woman didn’t care. Just grabbing her hand and sliding on the perfectly fitted ring onto Judith’s left ring finger.

For a second, Judith felt confusion and fear at why they knew her ring size.

But then she remembered that all they fucking do is knock her out, that’s nothing but openings to take a measuring tape and wrap it around her finger.

Faith planted a kiss against the top of the ring, peering up at Judith with a coy smile, “I’ll make you happy, don’t worry about it.

Before Judith could reply Faith poofed apart. Different than the others, a thick fog that quickly wrapped itself around her and obscured what few features there were in the bliss. Fading from green to black, Judith felt the too familiar abyss take her again.


	24. Red Foxes and Grey Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic isn't dead I just went on a 24/7 Borderlands lockdown since it got announced, I've calmed myself down lmao.

A sharp bounce woke Judith up from her slumber, slamming her against the hard metal of a moving van.

Dazed, Judith found herself facing the side of the van. Rattling around with her hands tied tightly behind her back, cutting painfully into her wrists. She could hear someone in the back with her but a large part of her honestly didn’t want to know who it was.

Shaking her head, Judith tried to orient herself.

Last waking memory was that… sickly green proposal in a nightmare world. Unsure of it it had been real or at least real enough though as she could feel the golden ring wrapped around her trapped finger. A peggie cross a mark of shame burning into her flesh.

Judith groaned, twisted up just as much on the inside as the outside.

She’d broken up with Faith countless times and now she was lying here with a ring on her finger.

God, did they really have to put the cross on it? Surely she was still in the possession of the Peggies but the second she got to freedom again she had to be sure to hide the bauble. Dangle it off a chain or something.

Or throw it into a lake. Like she should.

But some part of her deep down knew she wasn’t going to do that.

You’re getting ahead of yourself, Judith. Access the current situation before you start thinking about hypotheticals down the road.

Again, she heard the sounds of someone behind her. A light clinking noise of metal on metal, barely loud enough to be heard over the sound of the van rumbling down the country road. A man humming to himself. A “shink” noise, sharpening of a knife if Judith had to take a guess.

Judith took an educated swing in the dark, “Man, Jacob, could you just like… meet me unrestrained even just once? Or are you too scared?”

The muddy boot dug into her heel but she refused to let out even a single whimper of pain as Jacob roughly flipped her over. Crushing her arms behind her at an unnatural angle. Looking down at her with a scowl, knife in hand, as she was forced to look up at him.

She sneered though, “Wow, you’re even uglier from down here. Amazing.”

“Nothing stops you from running your mouth, does it?”

“Nothing but the grave.”

“You’re not even curious why you’re here, aren’t you?” Jacob questioned, pointing the knife at her, “Obsessed with the moment, not a future in mind.”

“I’m sure you’ve got some trippy bullshit psychedelic nightmare to put me through or something then dump me in the woods. Maybe I’ll get to see my friend you fucked up. You’re predictable. Just do the same shit over and over and over again.”

“I’ll admit, I can be,” Jacob nodded, “Patterns and predictability, there’s an order to things. But today’s going to be a bit different. Not in the way I’d originally planned but different nonetheless.”

“What, I throw a wrench in your plans?” Judith smirked, “Good. Fuck you.”

“You’ve thrown the whole damn toolbox in,” Jacob went back to sharpening the knife, “Last thing I would have expected when we heard they’re flying a bunch of cops in to break up my brother’s whole operation would be ‘one of them seduces Faith.’”

“I mean, to be fair, I wasn’t the instigator in this relationship.”

“Whatever way you wanna swing it,” Jacob dismissed, “And you had to be the most bullheaded creature I’ve ever met… you know, in a different life, you could have ended up a powerful force for the Project. But she got her claws in you.”

“I like how you think my stubbornness is only a result of Faith, if you jackasses had kept me captive I’d just rip my way out one way or another.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Jacob nodded, “You’re the only one who my methods haven’t worked on. Just makes you go into an erratic frenzy. Completely useless for what I was going to do with you.”

“And what exactly is that, macho man? Wanted me to be your prize soldier or something?”

“No. You were going to kill Eli for me.”

Judith smirked, “Dumbass, that’s your fault for thinking you could control me.”

He nodded again, “But I realized something. This whole time I was just thinking I’d have you do it but with that not working… well, it was just a matter of time until you helped out anyways.”

Squinting her eyes, Judith wait for clarification.

“You’re not the sharpest tool in the shed. I wouldn’t say you’re stupid, per se, but you don’t think before you act. Don’t stop to think ‘maybe I shouldn’t stumble blindly to the Whitetail Militia’s headquarters after being captive.’”

Judith’s eyes widened, “You fuckin-”

“Followed you, or course. All this time I thought that only you could kill Eli but I was slightly off. Only you could lead us there and only you could stop us. Too bad you’re here and not there.”

“I’ll fucking kill you, you ugly bastard!” Judith tried to aim a kick at him but it thundered against the metal of the groove he was sitting on. Uncaring, he stepped over her and pulled open the doors of the van to the dirt road they were rumbling along.

Stepping over her again, he crouched and hissed at her, “Now, if I know anything about you, you’re going to survive this. Come and find me, little fox.”

At that she felt a boot jam into her shoulder before kicking her out, tumbling violently into the rough road behind them.

\- - -

Groaning, for once Judith wished that she’d been knocked unconscious like usual.

But she wasn’t, she was wide awake and every bone and muscle in her body had felt the shock of slamming into the ground. Sharp, stinging pains all over where the small jagged rocks of the road had torn up her skin.

Rolling painfully to her feet, she hauled herself over to a nearby car wreck and got to work on the rope around her wrists. Jerking them forward and rubbing the painful twists of ropeburn.

Looking up she found she wasn’t alone though, Faith examining her curiously, “You look rough, what happened?”

Your brother, that’s what fucking happened.

But Judith couldn’t help but note that that seemed sincere… either Jacob was acting out of turn or they were keeping Faith in the dark.

Judith wasn’t given time to ruminate on that or even answer though as a speaker, just out of sight started blaring. Taking only a few notes to drill into Judith’s mind, bringing about the aimless frenzy that Jacob had spoken about.

She watched Faith shy away from that, an uncharacteristic confusion twisting her face as she watched Judith burst into the forest to destroy the source of the music.

\- - -

Running jaggedly through the blood red forest, Judith felt like she’d been kicked in the head.

More than once in her life she’s been commended on keeping a cool head in stressful situations and were someone to see what she sees now they’d only say it again.

Judith didn’t know if the wolves are real, chasing her, biting at her legs and missing by mere centimeters. All she knew was she had to destroy the speakers and stop the slow, droning “Only You” permeating the entire forest, permeating her mind.

Panting, she knew she couldn’t stop them from getting to Eli. She barely knew where she was but knew Jacob’s bullshit well enough to know he wouldn’t jeopardize his plans for the sake of dramatics. If it were John perhaps, but not Jacob.

But she did know that she was going to kill the crusty old fuck. For what he’d done to her, for what he’d done to Hope County, for what… for what he’d done to Pratt. He was going to die like a little bitch, right here, right now.

The smile that curled onto her face at the idea alarmed her.

Didn’t stop her running though.

Even as tears bit at her eyes from the exertion, Judith powered forward. Smashing speaker after speaker, having no idea how long this was going to go on for. Just knowing that this was what she had to do.

Judith could see Faith in her peripheral. Faded green stark against the otherwise grim red scene. She couldn’t properly look at her though, the woman staying at a distance.

For once she wasn’t there to talk, she was there to observe.

Did she see what Judith sees? Is the world dark and red? Or does she just see Judith running madly through a normal green forest with no context beyond that?

Either way what little glimpses of Faith’s face she could see indicated “worried”.

So probably she just looked crazy.

Judith didn’t care though, as she smashed the final speaker the droning song finally ended and shaking her head a few times cleared the world. Normal. Daytime.

It wasn’t too far away from her that she could see a figure perched on a high, high hill.

She wasn't stupid, she knew what Jacob had been in the military. Dropping into a bush it was a miracle he hadn’t spotted her. His scope sweeping the area a mere second too late.

Heart pounding in her chest, she jerked her head towards the sudden apparition of Faith at her side. Kneeling just outside of her bush hiding space and leaving Judith for once grateful that no one could see the woman but her.

“You’re both a couple of macho idiots,” Faith hissed, “Both of you, too proud. Snarling and circling each other like a pair of animals over a territory not yours.”

“He started it,” Judith replied, dipping her head to peer at Jacob through the leaves, “I’m just going to end it. Both in a grand sense and personal, he’s got my best friend, you know.”

“Don’t you dare,” she threatened, craning forward as well, “Turn around and leave, right now.”

“No, this ends right now,” Judith replied, creeping forward to the next cover. Timing her movements with the flash of the scope far above her. Of course the idiot didn’t have enough guards with him either. The dim witting soldiers not even hearing her a few feet behind them.

“He has a gun, you don’t-”

“I’ve got two fists and an indomitable will, that’s more than enough. Now unless you do want me to die, shut up for once. Distracting.”

“If you kill my brother-”

“I’ll kill your brother if I want to, fucker’s got it coming as far as I’m concerned,” Judith didn’t let her finish her threat, sailing a hand through her easily and getting moving.

Apparently keeping up with her running, constantly having to reform, had taken more out of Faith than Judith had thought. She was only able to poof back into existence a few more times, instantly dispatched, before having to stop.

She was going to have a headache after this one.

But Judith didn’t care. Creeping up the mountain like a silent predator.

A fox stalking a wolf. A matchup that wasn’t in her favor but what in this hellhole had been?

Either way it wasn’t long before she was grappling up the side of the mountain, an unseen ghost. Not a single Peggie corpse littering the path leading up to her target.

Jacob didn’t even turn around.

Was a sharp punch to the back of the head the bravest thing Judith had ever done? Absolutely not. But there’s no bravery in Hope County anymore, no valor, no banner to wave.

Just a woman about to beat the life out of a monster with her bare hands, even if she has to sucker punch her way to victory. It did the trick at least, Jacob dropping his rifle in shock. Giving Judith just another time for a harsh blow to the head before he was even able to turn around.

His punch was misaimed in the daze, easily deferred by Judith who nailed another one to his jaw with a punchy, “Too slow, old fuck!”

However, his next punch wasn’t. Judith reeled backwards from the punch to her gut, nearly throwing up nothing as she caught herself. Just narrowly dodging a second blow to her head. He was slowed, just enough. He was nearly twice her size but he was getting old and slow.

Standing on a rock over him, Faith reappeared. Face looking more annoyed than the worry she should probably have, “Stop it! The both of you!!”

“Shut up, Faith,” Jacob grumbled to Judith’s shock.

He could see her too.

Judith now realized that the look on Faith’s face had nothing to do with irritation at the situation. It was one of intense concentration.

She can be seen by more than one but it’s a strain.

“This is pointless,” she grimaced, “You’re both going to kill each other over what?! Showboating?!”

Turning to her, just slightly, Jacob was the one to end this, “This doesn’t concern you, leave.”

Swinging an arm back through her, Jacob tried to lead it right into a punch at Judith but he missed the mark. Sailing over her right shoulder, his chest colliding into her face.

The momentum enough that neither of them could stop it.

As they flew over the edge of the tall mountain, both made peace with a different god they didn’t believe in.

\- - -

Groaning, Judith pushed herself up. Dazed from the tumble down the mountain, some odd mercy in that they’d hit the rocks in many places on the way down. Probably the only reason either of them was still kicking.

One of them in better shape than the other.

Her memories of it were groggy but Judith knew that on the final drop to the hard rock ground she’d landed on top of Jacob. The big old bastard breaking her fall.

He was about ten feet away now, shambling, mumbling half to himself and half to her, “My brother saw this coming… I don’t know if he talks to God, that doesn’t matter. He was right.”

Jacob took a seat on a rock, tightly gripping his chest.

Judith didn’t really know why she got up and shambled towards him but she did.

“Humanity is once again in crisis,” Jacob started to ramble, “It doesn’t matter what we-”

“Shut up,” Judith replied, “No one cares, Jacob. All you’re doing is preaching to a brick wall at this point.”

Monologue derailed, Jacob tried to soldier onward to at least his biggest point, “You did everything he said you would and you didn’t even know it. You had no fucking clue.”

Judith paid no mind to Faith hazily reforming next to her, ready to admonish them again. She was focused solely on Jacob, the bastard who’d tortured her friend and militarized his damned bastard of a brother.

“No one cares,” Judith replied, reeling her arm back, “This one’s for Staci though.”

“JUDITH, DON’T,” Faith yelled but it didn’t stop the punch from connecting with Jacob’s head. Smashing it against the jagged rocks with a sickening crunch.

He didn’t get up from that one.

Judith paid no mind to Faith’s screams as she nearly toppled Jacob’s body ripping the key from his neck.

\- - -

“How COULD you?” Faith admonished Judith, even as she ran, “My BROTHER, you’ve killed one of my BROTHERS!”

She was too loud, her voice magnified as she chased after Judith wielding nothing but the knife pilfered from Jacob’s body. Yelling at her for her actions not caring that Judith wouldn’t even look over at her. Adrenaline pumping her forward from the shock of the fact she’d actually done it.

She’d killed Jacob. One of the Seed brothers was dead.

Panting, she continued her crusade through Jacob’s bunker. Single mindedly focused on her target. Find Staci Pratt. Get him safe, finally.

Whatever hell Faith was going to bring upon her, Judith would deal with that later.

She could hear Staci before she could see him, a looping recording of his own voice layering with his own real time screams. Voice hoarse from yelling, screaming not to be left here to die.

When Judith burst into the room he stopped abruptly but glazed over eyes didn’t seem to trust themselves, “Judith? Are you… are you real?”

He grunted as Judith slammed into him full force, arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Jesus, yeah, you are,” Staci groaned, “Crushing me…”

“Sorry,” Judith pushed herself up, “He’s dead. Jacob’s dead, I killed him.”

“W-what?” Staci replied, head still lolling back as she started cutting off his restraints, “Really?”

“Yeah he is, we have to… we have to go though…” Judith replied, the straps snapping free as she pulled Pratt to his feet.

He stumbled forward a few feet, still collecting pieces of himself as he contemplated this turn of events, “He said that I was weak, that I deserved this… Maybe he was right. Maybe I deserved it… maybe I did.”

Judith stepped back as she watched him promptly flip the fuck out. Screaming “MAYBE I DID” over and over as he picked up an errant sledgehammer and started swinging. Destroying the machines mocking him back with his own voice, his forced “confession.”

He didn’t stop until Judith grabbed his hand tightly, “Staci. We have to go.”

Panting, he nodded but babbled on nonetheless, “They made me strong and now they’re weak. And the weak must be culled.”

Well, that was just about the last thing she wanted to hear come out of his mouth but that was a problem for later Judith. Squeezing his hand, she started pulling him towards the door, “However you wanna put it, let’s go home.”

Lifting her head towards the exit, Pratt trailing behind her staggering along erratically, Judith saw the frame filled by Faith. Floating there ominously, drifting in the wind that didn’t exist. Glaring her down with a stern, “You’ll regret this.”

Judith was sure she would but was also sure she wouldn’t, dragging Pratt forward faster to walk through the ghost quickly. Trying not to flinch at the green fallout drifting around her.

Things were going to go downhill from here, Judith just knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to write Jacob and it's not a coincidence that this is the only chapter he is prominently featured. I hope it's at least vaguely in the realm of canon, I can never keep his voice in my mind so it makes him hard to write.


	25. Judith’s Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one up! We've still got a bit to go, it's odd to write the part that's just... supposed to be directly before Faith dies but then have it not lead there.
> 
> You may be asking "why the sudden rating change" and the answer was "I was supposed to switch it to M like five chapters ago when they were fuckin" but uhhh, how do I put it? Don't be disappointed because like...
> 
> Well if you go into the Deputy/Faith tag on here you definitely won't find something of MINE, written ALL about Judith and Faith, that's definitely not MINE, I'm too much of a PUSSI to write something like that, aren't I?

Swirling green followed her every step, the entirety of Hope County seeming to be in a dense fog that only Judith could see.

Of course, she couldn’t comment on it. Not to anyone. She’d seem crazy, this too much for her to even admit to Pastor Jerome. He’d believed seeing her but this… how could he not see her as too far gone to be saved? She’d heard the resistance speak in fear of those held captive by the Seeds for too long.

They’re think she was turning into an angel, just a little pawn of Faith’s.

And Judith was starting to think they were right.

Fishing the ring out from her shirt, dangling off a cheap but sturdy metal chain, Judith examined it.

She’d left it on her finger for the whole duration of rescuing Staci, only finding a new home for it when he was resting in a cot on the infirmary. Crashing from the adrenaline rush wearing off. He was watching her but Judith wasn’t entirely sure he’d truly seen what she was doing.

Her friend was even more fucked up than she’d thought. As hard she tried she still jumped at his outbursts, immediately follow by sad guilty looks at scaring her, tailended by prayers said out loud. Begging a god that Judith had no familiarity to for forgiveness.

Faith hadn’t shown up for three days. Just leaving Judith to drown in the waves of green mist constantly wafting around her.

Judith stayed in the jail. Fearing what would happen to her if she were to leave. A newfound fear of being alone. The Seeds always came to her when she was alone, when she was vulnerable. Here she was surrounded, safe. She knew she’d have to leave eventually but she could relax just for a few days at least before getting back to her hellish work.

Staci had become her shadow, feeling like a pale imitation of when times were better. She was used to him following her around but now he was distracted, constantly chattering away to no one but himself.

He could be coaxed into fairly normal speech if you talked to him directly though. Whitehorse had had several sit downs with him since that first tight embrace, glad to see another one of his deputies coming home. The final assessment by their boss hadn’t been extremely positive but the sheriff seemed hopeful that they’d be able to piece the boy back together.

Going off into one of the unused section of the prison, Judith had relayed everything that happened to her so far. Omitting anything to do with her relationship with Faith although he’d seen some incriminating things during his captivity with Jacob.

Sitting across from her in the abandoned office, he stared at her with uncomfortably blank eyes as he cut directly through the bullshit, “What about Faith Seed?”

Ignoring the fact that she was currently watching curls of bliss embracing her best friend, Judith played dumb, “What about her?”

“You know that I know what you’ve been doing,” Pratt said, grabbing her left arm and holding it up, “And it hasn’t stopped so don’t lie to me face. When you grabbed my hand. There was a ring, you were wearing a ring. I saw it before you took it off. There was a Peggie cross on it.”

His grip on her wrist was too tight, trembling and accusatory. Burning against the words carved into her arms, hidden by the long sleeve leather jacket.

“I tried to stop it, Staci,” Judith twisted her arm to freedom, “All I’ve done for the past couple months is try to call this shit off. She’s not taking ‘no’ for an answer, she just keeps coming for me.”

“Then what’s up with the ring? Why would you keep the fucking ring and I know you, you didn’t get rid of it, where is it?” he pointed at her accusingly, his sentences doubling over themselves in a single breath.

Judith unhooked the necklace and pulled out the offending ring. He looked at it like a vampire would a cro- wait it’s actually a cross ring, just looking at it as if he was a vampire then. Leaning back and looking at her with a look of utmost betrayal.

“I’m afraid to get rid of it,” Judith confessed, her sentences growing ragged as tears started to well up in her eyes, “She’s mad, Staci. She’s really fucking mad about Jacob. And it’s… it’s all my fault. I never should have talked to her. Should have played dumb. Should never have gotten tangled up in this but I have and I’m… I’m scared. She hasn’t shown up since Jacob died but I know she’s watching me. She’s always watching me.”

Never since she was a child has Judith “Stalwart Single Tear Only” Redfox let herself break down like this. It all fell apart with a single heavy sob until she was curled into a tight ball on the uncomfortable, threadbare office chair.

It was easy to forget how tiny Judith was, even for people who saw her every day of their life. But pulled tightly against Staci’s chest in a vice grip hug it was more evident than it has ever been before.

“It’s okay,” Staci lied, hand rubbing the back of her head as she threatened to shove her skull into his chest cavity, “We’ll… fuck, I don’t know. You… you killed one that just… just kill the other three, right?”

Three. That expectation weighed heavily on her. Hand gripping the offending ring tightly, sharp edges of the cross digging into her hand, piercing her skin.

It took a while for Staci to realize that the growing wet patch on his leg wasn’t from tears falling.

“Fuck!’ he exclaimed, pushing Judith up to find the source. Forcibly uncurling her hand to reveal her cut palm and bloodied ring, a grim sight that wasn’t exactly helping his current mental state. He stumbled over his own words as he bolted up and pointed at her, “Y- sta- you stay here, I’ll find a first aid kit. Don’t move.”

As he disappeared the green mist coating her world thickened though.

Swallowing heavily, Judith knew what she’d see if she turned around.

“Why is blood and destruction all you know?” Faith accused, ghostly pale hand appearing over her shoulder to point at the sullied ring.

“Because it’s all this life will give me, apparently,” Judith mumbled, refusing to look back.

God it was weird to be subjugated by someone who, by all rights, she could, would and should be able to take down with alarming ease.

“Would you believe me if I said I still believed you could be saved?”

That was a threat and Judith knew it.

Even before the hands jerked around her, clamping tightly over her mouth and eyes as the green mist pumped into her lungs.

\- - -

Woods. Always dragged out to the fucking woods.

At least this was a slightly less unnerving section of the Bliss or at least it would be if not for the fact Judith knew somewhere a particularly pissed off Faith was lurking.

Pushing herself up, Judith watched a butterfly pass as Faith began to admonish her, “I don’t understand. Did you think you could just continue to do whatever you want without consequences? Do you think my love is an impenetrable shield that would keep you safe?”

Fuck, it was weird to be flinching at the sudden apparition of the woman twisting around her. Face still a mask of rage. Fearing someone thin and weak, someone Judith realistically could take down with ease.

But she was completely at her mercy.

“I’ve protected you, I’ve been reasonable,” Faith sneered, “But you are just-”

In the real world, the shove Faith aimed at her wouldn’t be able to move Judith more than an inch but in this green hellscape it whipped her back about ten feet. Just barely managing to keep her feet underneath her, eyes wide at the oddly hunched over woman now standing far away from her.

“So, SELFISH,” Faith’s hand clawed at her shoulder, whipping Judith around to face her. Inches from her in a heartbeat. Snarling down at her, blue eyes green in the tinted world, “You killed Jacob and for what?! Your pride.”

Faith’s nails raked down her arm before harshly gripping that very word carved into Judith’s arm. Barely healed, still sore, a sharp series of stabs crawling over the wound crushed under Faith’s grip.

That pain doubled over with a sickening drop in her stomach as Faith just started… pulling her forward. Unnatural, as if they were sliding over the grass beneath their feet like slippery ice.

The apparition of Burke walking into the jail unfettered, narrowly avoiding being seen, gun gripped tightly in his hand.

Walking up to Virgil, staring him down as the old man curiously looked up at what he supposed was simply one of Whitehorse’s men, freshly rescued.

“Do you think you’re a hero?” Faith did a poor imitation of her normal calm voice, trembling with a barely concealed rage.

“Do you?” Judith shot back, making a sharp noise as her arm was finally released from the death grip.

Watching Faith saunter towards them was unnerving, Judith feeling completely useless in this world. Frozen in place, not even metaphorically. Every muscle in her body tensed against her will, any effort to move shut down.

Not that she could do anything even if she could move, any retaliation against Faith would only hurt herself.

And Faith knew that. All of that.

“Do you know what hubris is? Arrogance before the gods,” Faith ran her hand along Burke’s back before sliding onto the desk between him and Virgil, “The Greeks saw it as a dangerous form of pride that invoked the goddess Nemesis who would seek retribution.”

“Faith, whatever you’re thinking of doing won’t bring Jacob back!” Judith spat back, straining against the invisible restraints.

“I know, nothing will. He’s dead,” Faith snapped back, “You killed him in cold blood, bashed his head against a rock like you were putting down a sick dog.”

“What do you hope to gain out of this?” Judith gestured at the scene in front of them, frozen in time as it awaited Faith’s orders, “Want one last kick at me as I walk out the door?! Want the upper hand in a game nobody fucking wins?!”

“No, you just need to understand if there’s any chance of your salvation,” Faith replied, “And if violence is the only language you choose to speak… I’ll speak your language.”

In one smooth motion, Faith ran her hand down Burke’s arm in a way that almost made Judith feel jealous if not for the next second. Bringing his hand up, aiming it at the old man’s chest, pulling the trigger.

The sharp splattering noise of blood on metal was drowned out by the man’s death groans and Judith’s own barking yell of rage.

But that was nothing compared to what came next.

“I’m sorry to have to do this…” Faith simpered.

“I’m sorry to have to do this…” Burke obediently repeated.

“I wanted there to be another way…” Faith continued.

“I wanted there to be another way…” Burke droned.

Faith just glared at Judith, still frozen in place as she watched the other woman push Burke away. His entire back covered in those goddamn stupid butterflies.

“But you made your choice,” the two of them said in unison. Faith staring her down, Burke looking away.

Without any way to stop him, Judith had to watch as the zombified husk of Burke walked over and opened the gates to the prison. Blasting out the controls, brain dull to the screams of the people guarding the outside.

Judith’s scream was muffled by the suffocating fog as she helplessly watched as Burke positioned the muzzle of the gun firmly against the bottom of his jaw. Pulling the trigger.

A burst of brains and butterflies.

Her vision going white.

\- - -

Frantic screaming and being shaken like a ragdoll brought Judith back to the real world.

She hadn’t moved an inch, slumped limply over the rolling chair she’d been resting on. Staci grabbing her by the shoulders, yelling at her about the invasion she already knew about.

Like a zombie she accepted the gun he was all but smacking her with as he clumsily tried to force her to grab it.

Even though he was yelling at her, muffled through a haze of fading Bliss, Judith already knew the situation.

Good thing she was getting really used to firing a gun under the influence.

\- - -

It was obvious she was fucked up but she did her duty as she always did. Oblivious to her surrounding she she tore through Peggie after Peggie. Ears full of the thundering shots of gunfire, eyes darting around sharply for her next target, body splattered with the blood of countless enemies.

But the only thing replaying in her mind over and over was Burke’s suicide.

Judith wasn’t going to wax poetic about how they were the closest friends, about how much he’d meant to her, pretend he was the most important person in her life.

That would be a lie, Burke didn’t deserve a lie.

Burke was a good man. Always had been. Judith knew they hadn’t been best friends but they’d always been on good terms. Buddies, not besties, but he’d been a good friend to her.

And he’d been the one who’d turned her around.

She remembered the first time she’d walked into the Hope County Sheriff’s Office of her own volition. A fresh faced baby deputy who’d never been on this side of the law. Only ever having been here before once.

Trouble had been in her blood, even when she’d left her family ranch to move out to Hope County. Sure she’d been calming down as she entered adulthood but there were just a few more precious months of rabble rousing in her.

She’d gotten hauled in by Burke himself, dragging her along the shiny tile floors while she laughed quietly to herself.

Judith had known she was at worst getting a slap on the wrist. Drinking while trespassing in an abandoned barn? That was nothing.

The song and dance Burke was giving her was familiar. Shape up or ship out.

Tilting back in her chair, Judith looked unrepentant.

Burke hadn’t taken kindly to that.

In a heartbeat he was listing off a million things he was going to tack onto what should be a minor trespassing charge. Public intoxication. Theft. Possession of illegal narcotics. Resisting arrest. Well okay that last one is kind of true, she’d tried to squirm out of his grasp when he’d snatched her by the jacket just as she tried to leave.

“C’mon, man, don’t be a dick!” Judith’d shouted at him, loud in the empty room.

But he’d just lean forward at her, “I’m gonna make you an offer, kid.”

Were they in anything less than a completely abandoned precinct at midnight this wouldn’t have happened.

Burke’d watched Judith and her friends for a while before burst in, handcuffs at the ready. Heard Judith talk about her money problems since leaving her family’s ranch. For once her story of familial rejection was in her favor, the black sheep among the golden children.

And when she and her friends had fled, Judith had selflessly given up her own chances of escape to let them get away.

What Burke offered her that day was a second chance.

Forego jail time in exchange for a job working at the Sheriff’s office.

She’s taken it.

Many of her friends had quickly abandoned her after that, seeing even a minor connection to the police as a reason to jettison her. Even if all she was doing was taking emergency calls and sorting paperwork.

Judith’d just figured in for a penny, in for a pound.

Within a year she was attending police academy.

That midnight offer from Burke had been one of her very few moments connecting to Burke. While she’d assumed he wanted to personally mentor her that quickly proved to be false. He wasn’t the sort. Whitehorse had taken up that mantle, ignorant of what Burke had done for her.

Hell, Burke’d never even acknowledged that night again aside from the smallest ghost of smile at seeing her the next week. Sitting half slumped over her new desk, tapping her fingers while she waited for someone, anyone to call in.

And now he was dead. A statistic of the cult, just another body for the mass grave that is this hellish valley tucked away in Hope County.

Judith felt tears sting the edges of her eyes as the final Peggie fell.

Burke had never been her best friend but he’d been her salvation.

Panting, Judith came back to the moment at hand. Half collapsed in front of the jail, having had to chase down the last remaining Peggie outside with a sniper rifle. Looking behind her she saw countless body dotting the courtyard behind her.

All her handiwork. If she hadn’t killed them herself it was her fault for throwing away her duties. For not stopping this when she’d had the chance.

Every single dead body lying there was her fault and she knew it.

Singing made her look the other way, rocking benignly in the near distance, Faith watched her.

Her expression unreadable as she slowly drifted around in an aimless circle, “Now we’re even. I’ll come back for you soon, I won’t let this be the end, I will save you. Whether you want me to or not.”

Unable to respond more eloquently, Judith just spat out a bloody, “Fuck you.”

Faith sneered at that, poofing away.

Shifting uncomfortably to her feet, Judith realized the ring was back on the chain and dangling from her neck.

A collar. A scarlet letter. A metal promise that this wasn’t over.

It would never be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naw but seriously go into the Deputy/Faith tag, I wrote a fic about 'em banging under another name. Mine, All Mine, pussi_cat, can't miss it. I'm sure it's right at the top right now.


	26. Walk The Path

It was a good thing that Whitehorse had sent Staci out to drag Judith back into the jail or she would have run directly into the woods to become a crazy hermit and eat bugs and mud until she dies.

It’s what she deserves. A pile of bodies was all that awaited her in the prison. Each and everyone her fault. Burke, Virgil, countless Hope County citizens…

It was all her fault because she wanted to play house with a goddamn crazy cultist bitch.

Staci’s hand clamped on her wrist was an anchor, dragging her back to the warm embrace of sanity. Both figuratively and literally.

It was weird going inside, Whitehorse spreading his arms wide. Refusing to let her go where she knew Burke’s body was, thinking he was shielding her from seeing that. Keeping her safe.

A kind thought, failing on the fact that Judith had actively watched it happen.

She looked up at Staci, towering over her as he ushered her away from Burke’s rotting corpse.

If she was ready to run off into the middle of nowhere and die, Staci looked ready to make the whole process a lot faster. If it were up to her she’d get that shotgun off his back and not grant him any more access to firearms until they can get out of here. Put this boy in therapy.

Shit, they’re gonna want to do that to her too aren’t they?

On a good day Judith wasn't one to open up to strangers and on a bad day she’d rather chew out her tongue. Hell, it can be hard enough to get her to open up to loved ones.

It dawned on Judith that this was the first time in a while that’d she’d thought about the “after.”

After they leave Hope County, after they arrest the Seeds, after she cuts all ties with Faith.

Not that she hasn’t tried. My god, has she tried.

Again the necklace around her neck felt heavy. Too heavy. Golden bauble at the end burning into her skin like a silver bullet shot into a werewolf’s heart.

Even if she did let them put her in therapy, what was she going to tell them? Who the hell would believe her about the apparition of Faith? Pastor Jerome had but things had escalated to a degree that she felt even he’d have a hard time buying.

Also, she’d have to tell them about the blood on her hands both literally and figuratively. That wasn’t something she was exactly looking forward to ever discussing with anyone ever.

They were far back in the jail again. Most everyone was staying in the same section but her coworkers knew her well enough to know she’d rather be alone in a shitty bunk in the abandoned section than trying to sleep surrounded by tons of people bustling around.

It took no urging on his part to get her to collapse on the threadbare mattress, just a thin layer of padding over metal.

“Look, we’re just… I’m gonna go help dig the- Burke’s funeral, you don’t have to come. I know you don’t like letting people see you cry.”

Bold of him to think that Judith was physically capable of anything but staring deadeyed into infinity anymore.

Which she was doing right now.

And kind of very much freaking him out.

“I mean you can come if you WANT to I… don’t know how long it’s gonna take me to dig… I can take you back- do you want to?” Staci scrambled, staring back at her with equally empty eyes. Except his were squirrely and searching for meaning while Judith was staring at the stains on the ceiling like they’d divine a solution for her wretched life circumstances.

“No, I just… want to be alone. No offense,” Judith replied, too dead to even shake her head.

As much as he understood it Staci tried not to look hurt by that, “Just… just stay here.”

Given how immobilized Judith was that was a given, she felt, “Where else am I gonna go?”

“I… don’t know,” Staci replied, pausing halfway to the door, “Nobody knows where you go.”

Right, Staci was immune to her bullshit.

“Savin’ Hope County business. Killin’ stuff. Taking down cultist outposts, saving people, shit like that.”

Granted, none of that was a lie but both of them knew it also wasn’t the full truth.

Staci wasn’t about to push the issue though, turning to leave. Only stopping at the bars, grabbing one of them as he passed to peek over his shoulder at her, “For what it’s worth, I appreciate the fact I’m the only person you’ll cry in front of.”

“Of course I would,” Judith let go of the zombie stare at the ceiling to look back and give him a practiced wink, “Yer my favorite deputy.”

The sight in front of her was familiar. She’d seen Staci do it a hundred times, whenever he was happily embarrassed. Mashing his hand into his mouth to cover a smile. Faking like he was wiping his mouth or something? She had no idea what he thought that motion was meant to imitate but it was the most alien, unnatural thing.

If Faith had been here to see that wink-and-a-compliment she would have flipped shit but luckily, for once, she wasn’t.

But it was just her and Staci. Soon to be just her as the man was embarrassedly slinking off to hide the remnants of the smile still gracing his face. Judith’d flirted with a lot of people in her lifetime but nobody ever gets quite as flustered as Staci. Makes her feel powerful, reducing a grown man to a giggling schoolboy.

What could she say, she could get half of Hope County to swoon over her.

Why hadn’t she gone after literally any of them? Anyone but Faith.

That stupid horse was out of the barn though. Judith rolling her head back to look at the ceiling again as she tried desperately to think of anything other than Faith’s simpering, holier than thou face or Burke blowing his goddamn brains out.

So this was the game now.

An eye for an eye.

Somewhere in her warped mind Judith wondered if that was just the currency of this world now.

Once again Staci’s assertion that Judith just had one less Seed to kill, three left, echoed in her mind.

Man, she could have John tied to a chair and completely at her mercy right now and she wouldn’t dare lay a finger on him. Judith knew Jacob had been Faith’s least close brother, John her favorite. Killing Jacob had taken Burke, admittedly the one she’d been the least connected to…

Doing the math in her head, she cringed at the idea of “if I hurt John, her favorite, she’ll hurt my favorite, Staci.”

And Judith sure as hell wasn’t going to call the man her favorite anywhere near the murderous woman.

“Are you thinking about what you’ve done?”

Faith’s voice was that of a elementary school teacher, talking to her more troublesome student.

Judith didn’t even look over, sneering, “Thinking about what YOU’VE done, actually.”

Not content to be ignored, Faith teetered over her with her long hair falling around her face like a scraggly witch, “It’s done so much, all in the name of helping you. Of saving you. You fight and you scream and you pull away but I’m not going to let you go.”

“Why are you doing this to me-”

“For you.”

“To me,” Judith ignored the patronizing correction, “You’re a cruel cat, batting me around like a sick little mouse.”

“Your actions have consequences, you cannot get mad at us when you hurt yourself.”

“Do me a favor next time?” Judith finally looked over at Faith, sitting cross legged on the other bunk.

Her serene smile replied, “Maybe?”

“Just fucking kill me next time,” Judith growled at her, “Put me out of my fucking misery.”

The look that should have crept onto Faith’s face should have been shock or pity or sadness. Anything but the instant switch to anger. Dropping down upon her in a shower of green that blinded her before fading to black.

\- - -

Turns out Staci’s concerns that Judith would leave the jail were more founded than she’d thought. Groaning away with the great blue sky above her, her legs shackled together.

She wasn’t alone either. Groggily lolling her head around revealed a small group of fellow captives. Not Peggies though, normal people. Well some Peggies. Around the edges, obviously there to keep them in line.

Citizens she’d fail to keep safe.

Soon to be dead bodies.

Indirectly her fault if the Peggies kill them, failing to keep them safe originally and failing to stop them from being in the cult’s grasp.

Directly her fault if the Peggie got to them, soon to have one of her bullets buried between their eyes.

When Faith sauntered up, Judith had no doubt in her mind that it was the real deal as she addressed the group at large. Talking as if they weren’t a captive audience but rather a willing congregation.

“I’m glad you could all make it today,” Faith walked from potential recruit to potential recruit, putting on her most sympathetic face for each as she cupped their jaws, “Wrath may twist in your chest now but I assure you this is for the best. The path to redemption and salvation is never an easy one but it will be all worth it in the end. I promise.”

Ending on Judith, she cradled her for longer than necessary. Gazing down at her adoringly.

Judith almost would have preferred she be mad.

Letting her hands slide away she gestured for the guards to come over. Each of them bogged down by the weight of one of those heavy metal crosses Judith had seen being hauled along on the backs of captive civilians.

She’s rescued many. Now she was going to be the one that needed rescue.

But she had a feeling none was coming.

Next to her, a thin man trembled for only a second as his cross was put across his back before collapsing to the ground. Forced back to his feet by a hand harshly gripping each arm and hoisting him up. Putting it on him again. This time he didn’t fall, even as he was goaded forward.

The others went off first, struggling with it to varying degrees as they were led off.

Leaving Judith behind with Faith and one other Peggie, holding her own cross.

Glaring at her, Judith spat, “Now I gotta deal with this stupid bullshit?”

The serene look of compassion didn’t leave Faith’s face as the cross was put on Judith’s back.

She could take it. She didn’t even flinch at the weight. She was strong enough.

\- - -

Faith had bounced back from Jacob’s death faster than anticipated.

His death hadn’t signalled any sort of grieving period for her, a single minded obsession was laser precise in her mind.

Joseph had insisted on having them around him. Three days straight.

They’d holed up in Seed Ranch, together every second of the day and night.

Mornings spent outside in the back, looking out at the mountains. Afternoons in the little tower by his plane, normally his little reading nook when he was alone. Evenings in the wide living room, surrounded by animals Jacob had killed only for John to mount them for his home.

Even nights together, John’s bed more than big enough to not only accommodate three adults but allow them ample space between them. Sleeping head to foot like children at a sleepover.

But while Joseph moped around and wrote in his little journal and John just aimlessly stomped around, raving like a lawyer defending a client’s innocence Faith was… different.

At first the brothers had taken her dead eyed staring into space as her own odd little brand of mourning.

But as time passed it was obvious that it wasn’t that. She was focused. She was planning.

And given that every other word out of her mouth was ‘Judith’ it was no secret exactly what she was planning.

Joseph had always been weirdly supportive of Faith’s twisted pursuit of Judith. What better way to bring a lamb to the fold but with love? Judith becoming not only their sister in the broader religious sense but a bit more literally as a sister-in-law.

Jacob had never liked it. A crass and ineffective way to wrangle someone as unpredictable as Judith. Her indomitable had to lie broken at her feet for them to get anywhere.

John had been amused by it. Nothing delighted him more than dramatics and this was like his own personal soap opera.

Until Judith killed Jacob.

Now John didn’t understand anything anymore.

Over dinner he made this apparent, hissing into his spaghetti, “I don’t get why you’re still pursuing the beast.”

“Don’t call her that,” Faith snipped back, “A lost lamb is still a lamb.”

“Lamb?” John scoffed, “She literally has a predator in her name and a sneaky one at that. A filthy little fox, rabid and biting anyone who dares extend a hand.”

“She’s scared,” she asserted, “She’s not a woman used to giving up her control, to let herself simply believe.”

He drew a sharp line in front of his neck with his fork, “Jacob knew that the only way to deal with a sick animal is to put it down.”

“Don’t you dare,” Faith jabbed her own at him, “Joseph said-”

John interrupted her with a sharp look at Joseph, “Before this… this… savagery. Surely things have changed, Joseph? It wouldn’t be hard to take her out, the little idiot seems to love putting her feet directly into any beartrap we place in front of her.”

“JOHN,” Faith barked before looking pleadingly at Joseph, “Tell him he’s wrong and if he dares touch Judith…”

To Faith’s relief, Joseph instantly took her side, “John, I’ve already told you how things will go many times. Judith will walk through the gates of New Eden or they’ll be closed to you as well.”

“Why are you both so fixated on her?!” John anguished, “Are we just going to gloss over that she killed Jacob in cold blood?!”

“As much as it pains me to say it, Jacob made his own bed,” Joseph’s voice hitched at that, his calm demeanor cracking for a split second, “He was unsuccessful in his endeavors to control Judith and bring her to the fold and… he acted out of turn.”

They all grew quiet at that. It was no secret that Jacob had acted directly against Joseph’s wishes, forcing Judith to either kill or be killed.

“But she-” John started to whine.

But Joseph was having none of it, “No. I don’t want any excuses.”

Faith reached over and grabbed John’s hand, “Don’t worry, Judith will have to atone for what she’s done. But you need to understand we will be together, I have to believe in that. For as long as I can.”

John bit back a sharp barb about Judith’s cruel rejections of Faith, stopped only by the stern look Joseph was shooting at him.

He only reinforced that as well, giving John his most serious of dead eyed stares, “I suggest you try to come to terms with this and get along with Judith. She’ll be your sister soon enough. I’d rather not suffer any sort of sibling rivalry. Open your heart.”

For most of his life John had been amazing at concealing his emotions but under the freedom of the cult he’d grown out of that ability. Stuck sitting there, simmering in his hatred and rage. Every ounce of anger evident on his face as the hand Faith had rested hers upon balled into a tight fist.

“So what are you turning around in your head?” he finally asked, at least wanting to know what the bitch had coming to her.

“An eye for an eye,” Faith replied calmly, “She took one of us, we’ll take one of hers.”

At that, John perked up with a wide, cruel grin, “Oh death, the great equalizer! Shall I put an end to my dear Deputy Hudson? I’m certainly making no headway with her.”

“No,” Faith replied, finally taking away her hand so she could eat once more, “My own shall be the sacrifice.”

“Why?” John whined, “Burke is perfectly compliant! Why not remove a thorn rather than sacrifice a willing follower?”

“I have my reasons,” Faith replied, “You trust me, don’t you, Father?”

The look she gave Joseph was one of an insipid child but it worked instantly. Nodding along to John’s disappointment, “This is Faith’s problem to fix, I trust her judgement.”

John crossed his arms, “I don’t.”

“Well, start,” Joseph commanded, watching John instantly wilt under his disapproval, “Anything else you have planned, Faith?”

“I am going to make her walk the path, same as everyone else.”

Both Joseph and John delighted in that for completely different reasons. Joseph enjoying everything coming together as it should, in the order it was meant to. John because Judith was going to suffer horribly doing that.

“Well, I suppose that suffices,” John conceded, returning to his food, “As long as the scales of justice don’t tip too far in one direction.”

“They won’t,” Faith replied, “Everything will be even as we are married.”

Things devolved to idle chatter after that.

Each of them pointedly ignoring the fourth place set up. An empty plate and unused utensils shining the light of the fireplace. Camo jacket hung over the back.

\- - -

Judith didn’t want to show any signs of weakness but damned if she could stop herself from panting and groaning in pain.

While she hadn’t had the initial trouble carrying the cross it was weighing heavily on her now. Metal digging harshly into her arms and the weight causing every bone and muscle in her body to cry out in pain. The sun beating down harshly. Sweat making it harder to keep a grip on the heavy cross. Leaving her in a weird place where she almost wished she was slogging through a sea of green for this, at least then her suffering would be dulled.

But it seemed like Faith was determined to carve every moment of this torturous walk into her mind.

Why’d they make the damn trip so fucking long? Judith had no idea how long she’d been walking but she knew enough to know it was “too long” as she watched the burning sun traverse the painfully blue sky.

She was being allowed to take her time though. The other had left them long again, being forced along at a grueling pace. Led by the Peggies and a Priestess preaching to them as that walked the long, long path through Hope County.

But Judith was getting a more personal touch. Being allowed to shamble along slower, being attended to by Faith herself prattling off those Peggie phrases she’d seen and heard everywhere. Be it tumbling from the lips of the rambling Priestesses or written on the walls of Hope County. Only one Priestess walking along them, no doubt to keep Judith from running if the gun in her hands wasn’t an indicator.

Joseph this, Joseph that. The Great Collapse. Eden’s Gate. All that jazz.

The only thing Judith was focused on was putting one foot in front of the other.

As far as she was concerned this was just another miserable trial she was going to be pointlessly put through. All she had to do was get to the end and then Faith would dump her in a field and that’d be it.

At least, for now that’d be it.

That was easier said than done though as they started to- oh fuck no- head towards the mountain with Joseph’s statue.

Judith could barely lift her head enough to look at the looming figure. She should have listened to everyone when they told her to destroy the damn thing, cursing how early Faith had dug her jagged claws into her.

It was a struggle to even look over at Faith, the cross shoving her head down harshly.

But she did. Examining the woman.

It seemed almost like Faith had wiped the last week from her mind, resetting back to a time where she hadn’t killed Burke and Judith hadn’t killed Jacob. Which stage of grief is denial again?

Judith interrupted her, never content to leave the elephant in the room alone, “You’re ignoring it but I’m not. Do you really think we’re just going to put those deaths behind us?”

Faith rolled a critical eye over to her, “We’re not going to be able if you keep bringing it up.”

“All I’ve done is rebuff you and kill your brother, why do you still chase me?”

“Because we’re meant to be together.”

Judith grunted and adjusted the heavy cross, “You’ve got a real weird idea of what makes a couple meant to be together.”

“Forces beyond us pull us together,” Faith retorted, “I can feel it. Deep down we’re intertwined together. Things aren’t easy for us, maybe they’ll never be, but I’ll chase it until one of us drops dead.”

“Yeah, that’s nice and healthy,” Judith dropped her head again, “This fucking cross might do me in, hope you’re okay with being the one that kills me.”

“You will live, weaker people than you have made it,” Faith replied, “I have me in you.”

Against all odds, Judith managed to laugh at that. Nearly dropping the heavy cross to the ground.

“Fuck, don’t make me laugh unless you want me to be missing a toe or two,” Judith shifted it back into place.

But Faith was too busy being delighted that she’d managed to get Judith to laugh, “You’ll be fine. I don’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Judith nearly laughed at that too.

“Man, I don’t know what you think this thing currently happening to me is but I would define it as ‘bad.’”

“This is unfortunately a hoop you’ll have to jump through on your way to salvation. It’ll be over with soon, then you can rest. I’ve got a room made up for us at Seed Ranch, you’ll be nice and comfy while you recoup from this, I promise. I’ll take good care of you.”

Oh fuck, getting to the top of the mountain is not the end.

Like a house of cards on a windy day, Judith folded.

Thankfully the cross fell far enough to the side that it missed her by an inch as she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

She’d almost expected Faith to react in anger but instead she dropped to her side in an instantly, pulling her head onto her lap even though her hair was like a wet mop of sweat. Cradling her so lovingly that for a split second it allowed Judith to forget that she was the one who had done this to her.

Well honestly that was probably more the dehydration than anything. Her mouth feeling like a arid desert.

Not for long as Faith demanded the canteen that the Priestess was carrying, gently tilting it into Judith’s mouth. How gentle she was being to prevent Judith choking at odds with the rest of the torturous day.

“Are you okay?” Faith cooed despite the circumstances, “Can you get up again?”

“Sorry to puncture your weird fucking fantasy of me being Wonder Woman but I haven’t properly slept or eaten in months,” Judith smacked the accursed metal, “Adrenaline can only do so much, I don’t have the endurance for this.”

She watched Faith quickly cycle through a bunch of options in her mind, eventually settling on looking around wildly.

They were long since alone, the other shuffled up the mountain long ago. Faith knowing they’re be long gone by the time they got up there. The mountain deserted. She pointed at the Priestess with a cold threat, “Don’t tell anyone about this. As far as you’re concerned she did everything right. She bore her cross with grace.”

Sliding out from under Judith she stood up and pulled the extremely reluctant Judith to her feet. Pulling her arm around her shoulders. Thin frame not able to completely support Judith’s weight but enough to help her shambling forward.

The further they got from the cross lying on the ground, the better Judith felt.

Granted, she wasn’t exactly jazzed to be dragged up the mountain but it was better than before at least.

\- - -

Joseph went to bed first, he always did. A real early to bed, early to rise type. Mercifully, he didn’t enforce that lifestyle upon his siblings though.

Left sitting by the fire the silence between John and Faith was stark. Normally their time together occupied by almost girlish gossip and happily telling stories from their equally dark backgrounds. Grim jokes about the horrors that had befallen them both.

But that conversation at dinner had driven a sharp wedge between them.

Sitting five feet apart but they might as well have been at opposite sides of John’s landing strip.

It was John who spoke though, a trait he shared with Judith being the complete inability to leave well enough alone, “Why her?”

Faith knew better than to try to play dumb with John, “We’re meant to be together.”

“Why?” he repeated like an annoying child, peering over his book judgmentally at her.

“Have you ever been in love, John?”

“You know me well enough to know the answer to that is ‘no.’”

Faith ignored his bitter tone, “She’s smart, tough, charismatic. Even though it’s misplaced she cares so much and she wants to protect people. She’s witty and funny and just… being around her makes me happy. I want to be the one she focuses that all on. Protecting me, loving me… I want that.”

John’s face twisted into a grimace, “She’s never used those talents for anything but hurting our family.”

“Well, I believe if I just keep trying I can turn her around,” Faith looked back down at her own book, “Then we’ll be together. Just me and her, married like we’re supposed to be.”

“Oh I wish I could live in a dream world like you,” John sighed.

“I will make it a reality,” Faith sniffed, “I have a question for you too.”

“What?”

“May I bring her here?”

God if his love of dramatics wasn’t winning out over his newfound hatred of Judith, eyebrow quirking up, “What do you mean?”

“She’s going to be exhausted after she walks the path, she will need a place to rest her head.”

He couldn’t stop the eager smile crossing his face, already picturing the theatrics of a Judith trapped in his home, “Sure, take any guest room you want.”

\- - -

To the top of the goddamn statue.

Faith made her go all the way to the fucking top.

Judith had always wondered what the hell was going on in the inside of Joseph’s head and apparently the answer was “people walking around, also there’s a book here.”

Faith had approached it so reverently, picking it up like it was made from glass, “Do you know what this is?”

“A book,” Judith panted out the dumb answer, too tired to care.

It didn’t deter Faith in the least, holding it out to Judith, “It’s the original copy of Joseph’s teachings.”

She said that with so much misplaced confidence that Judith gave a shit.

Still she relented and grabbed the book being roughly shoved at her, looking down at the neatly bound book. Flipping it open revealed it handwritten. Joseph’s handwriting neat little loops as they detailed his insanity.

Faith mistook Judith being too exhausted for some measure of respect for this.

But really her tired eyes were trembling too much from exertion for her to read a single word of it. Although she knew it was simply full of all the bullshit Faith had spouted at her as she hauled her up the mountain.

It was almost a mercy when Faith put her hands over Judith’s. Closing the book and leaning in to plant a chaste kiss on Judith’s lips. Gently taking the book from her again and placing it on the stand.

“Let’s go home now.”


	27. Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

Judith barely remembered the trip to Seed Ranch. By the time Faith had gotten her back down to the base of the statue she was delirious with exhaustion.

Only vague snippets. Being lightly herded by Faith into a truck, curled up with her head on the woman’s lap as they drove. Vision blinking in and out. Being helped inside by… there’d been tattoos, it must have been John. Being rolled onto a bed and quickly shackled to it. Instantly passing out.

Her sleep was fitful, nightmares clawing at her from all angles. She watched all of her friends die, one by one. Sharp, disconnected jabs. Playing one after another, each as seared into her mind as Burke’s own real death.

The Drubman family, Sharky included, rounded up and gunned down like a herd of sick cattle. Bullets shredding them apart until their corpses were unidentifiable masses of blood and flesh. Jess hanging lifeless from a tree, sharp eyes dull and empty. Grace’s head bashed open upon her dead father’s grave, the contents of her skull splattered across the flag.

Fall’s End burning to the ground, Pastor Jerome and Mary May tossed into a mass grave soon be forgotten to the world.

The Ryes slaughtered in their home. Nick draped over Kim in a futile attempt to protect her. The only mercy her mind was granting her in this montage leaving the contents of the bloody crib in the distance out of her sight.

Tattoo’d hands wrapped around Hudson’s neck, eyes rolling back until the thrashing stopped. Whitehorse being executed point blank, head blasting open like Burke. Staci thrown to the wolves, ripped to pieces while he screamed and screamed.

Jolting awake, Judith strangled a scream in her throat as she sat straight up.

Trying to replace her nightmares with anything else she looked around the room, for once actively wanting to see Faith. If anything the woman made for an excellent distraction.

Always talking, always moving, always obsessed with Judith’s attention.

But Judith was alone. She was sitting alone in what must have been John’s bedroom. No adult man should have this many toy planes, shelves of the damn things. Framed art prints dotted the wooden walls, John evidently a fan of art beyond the ones needled into his skin.

The curtains were drawn but peeking open just enough for Judith to know it was sundown.

Judith’d be loathe to admit it but his bed was incredibly soft. No doubt thousand count sheets or some shit. Is that the fancy number? Whatever the fancy number of counts it is for nice sheets I don’t know she’s trapped in the middle of an apocalyptic valley surrounded by cultists how’s she supposed to know either fuck you.

Pulling back the sheets reluctantly, Judith was unsurprised to find a shackle on her arm keeping her attached to the bed.

You know your life is fucked up when “shackled to a stranger’s bed” is the least of your problems and is, in fact, the least threatening part of the situation.

Judith contemplated just going back to bed but the dryness of her mouth and the growling of her stomach demanded attention.

“Hey!” she shouted, knowing they most certainly hadn’t left her alone.

The light padding up the stairs signalled that she was right, Faith all but skipping in like this wasn’t a kidnapping, “You’re finally up! You were starting to worry me.”

“How long was I out?” Judith asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Oh, a little over twenty-four hours,” Faith replied like that was normal, “You were really tired, huh?”

“Tired of your bullshit,” Judith groaned, “Let me go home…”

Home. What did that even mean to her anymore?

“You already are,” Faith hissed, sliding onto the bed, “But John wants his bed back. He really regrets bringing you to his room instead of the one we’re staying in. Just went here on instinct.”

Somehow, the mental image of John pouting like a child at being kicked out of his room invigorated Judith, “Too bad, if he wants it he’ll have to come take it.”

Faith laughed at that, mistaking it for a joke. Her next words were persuasive as she leaned over and undid the shackle on the bed, “Come on, dinner’s ready. John made burgers, he’s really good at grilling.”

Ignoring that Judith had heard countless tales of the mediocre Seed cookouts, she found herself salivating nonetheless. Mercifully having the images of her friends dying horribly knocked out of her head by sheer hunger.

Growing so accustomed to this treatment, Judith was weirdly unphased by being pulled along by the long chain around her wrist.

God, for the first time in her life Judith found herself glad to see John. Granted, it was only because he was carrying a platter of burgers but still. The smell was making her salivate, just barely restraining herself from running over and wolfing them like a wild animal.

Man, speaking of, John sure did have a lot of dead animals in his house, huh?

Whatever, the only dead animal that Judith gave a shit about was the one placed in front of her. Immaculately ready-made with all the fixin’s.

Immediately after sitting, Judith went to dig in only for Faith to grab her hand authoritatively, “Judith, we have to say grace first.”

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Judith let the Seeds grab a hand each.

While she had extremely limited knowledge of Christianity Judith had been dragged through this song and dance many times before. Her friends had never been religious but their parents had been. Any time she was invited to dinner she was trapped in this weird, foreign ritual.

Faith prattled on about the Father and salvation and all that. Gripping Judith’s hand firmly but that was nothing compared to the other side.

It was very pointed that John was crushing her hand as much as he could, like he was determined to break a finger or two.

Oh good, the stabby one is angry at her.

It wasn’t hard to imagine why. She’d seen the army coat put into the display case, given a point of prominence in the room. A remarkable amount of the blood had been gotten out of it too.

But thankfully it was short, Judith jerking her hand away the second she could.

This time no one stopped her from ripping into the burger this time.

Judith was certain she looked like a wild animal as she ate but she didn’t really care. A disgusted lip curl from John wasn’t about to stop her, he carves shit into people why should she care about his opinion?

And Faith seemed to find it funny, giggling behind her hand. Like it wasn’t starvation driving Judith to eat like this.

“See? John makes good burgers,” Faith took a polite bite of her own, still pretending this was normal behavior for Judith.

God, it was gone in record time. Judith wiping her mouth as she sniped back, “So you’re really intent on acting like all this is normal, huh? Like I didn’t kill your brother and you didn’t kill my friend?”

Instantly, Faith’s face darkened, “We’re even.”

We’re even, she says. What the fuck.

“You’ve got a real fucked sense of justice or whatever if you think killing a cult leader is on par with killing a police officer,” Judith replied, reaching for another burger which John didn’t pull away. Enraptured by the drama unfolding.

Faith pulled away Judith’s plate though, “You’ve got a lot of nerve thinking you can just do whatever you want all the time.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve thinking you can control me,” Judith shot back.

“Oh no, why are we fighting?” John practically sang, resting his cheek casually on a hand. Eyes downright sparkling with mirth.

Faith ignored her brother’s instigation, “I am HELPING you. One way or another.”

“Well shit, if I'd known forced suicide was the way I would have blown my brains out long ago.”

“DON'T SAY THAT!”

The slam on the table nearly upended John's drink had he not casually caught it, unaffected by the tantrum. If anything he was barely hiding delight at the situation as he took a sip, looking up at his sister fuming.

It certainly didn't help her anger that Judith was looking up at her completely unrepentant.

Faith leaned over the table at Judith, looking furious, “Be nice or we have you dumped in the middle of the Whitetails.”

Scowling, Judith looked away. Trying to figure out if she could survive the hike back civilization from the dead center of the woods. Survey says… no.

“Fine,” she spat, “I'll play house.”

Faith seemed sated by the half hearted answer, sliding back into her seat, “Good.”

The smug look on John's face instantly jeopardized that promise. God, Judith'd give anything to deck the little weasel.

But thankfully she wasn't the only one who didn't appreciate the look, Faith causing him, “John, don't antagonize her.”

He pouted for a second but like Judith he relented.

Judith had spent all of maybe an hour or two with John in all her time here but even she could see how important the favor of his siblings was to him.

“These are so delicious, John,” Faith slipped right into her doll house daydream, “Did your new grill come in?”

Even John himself seemed put off by the sudden shift, “Uh, yeah. Like a week ago.”

Ah fuck, Faith's looking at Judith expectantly. What the hell does she want?”

Wagering a guess, Judith have a half hearted, “Yeah they taste good.”

And so the awkward dinner continued in that strain, a weird fake dance of a normal life. Faith refusing to give up the dream. Judith too exhausted to fight it. John not wanting to get kicked out of his own home.

\- - -

Fuck, ew, man… Judith tugged uncomfortably at the t-shirt hanging off her. Just slightly too big.

The shirt itself would be fine with no contect, referencing a long since passed Peggie event. Some big cookout, a cutesy image of a pig who was for some reason quite excited to be cooked alive.

Maybe that was relatable. Judith’s certainly waltzed into this hell of her own accord too.

Somehow wearing John’s clothes made that feeling worse. Especially the gym shorts even though she was fairly sure that had literally never seen use.

Ugh, why couldn’t she have fit into Faith’s pajamas…

Oh right she’s ripped and Faith weighs like twelve pounds and she would have been able to accost and arrest her with absolutely no effort if she wasn’t terrible at her job.

Sighing, she walked out to play pretend with a serial killer and drug dealer so she doesn’t die alone in a forest.

\- - -

Walking out, she found the siblings already dressed in their own pajamas. Half curled up on the couch and chatting amicably, as if they didn’t have a captive walking around carrying a heavy chain in their house.

Faith had changed in the room with her into the conservative nightie, closer to an oversized t-shirt than anything. An almost tattooish drawing of an angel on it said “gift from her brother”.

Speaking of said brother, he’d for some reason decided a fucking kimono was appropriate attire.

Most bone chilling was how they’d sat at opposite sides of the couch.

Clearly intending for Judith to sit between them. Fucking hell.

Playing ball was the best way to get this to end though. Play their weird little game for a day or two, get her strength back, break out. It wouldn’t be too hard, this lock was just as shitty as the last one they’d put on her and they seemed content to leave her alone sometimes. Faith having changed quickly, planted a kiss on her cheek, before running out to get comfy in the living room.

The TV had been well hidden in one of the side rooms. Judith had only seen projectors in magazines and websites about rich people houses. Given the family’s general vibe she had a feeling John had gone with a projector due to how easy it was to hide it.

Accepting her fate, Judith walked over and collapsed between them. Trying not to be too weirded out as John snatched the shackle from her hands and attached it to the coffee table.

Whatever apparently she can walk around sometimes but only sometimes, who the fuck knew their plans. Honestly the whole Seed family was garbage at keeping someone captive.

At least physically as Judith obediently put her arm around Faith when the woman cozied up to her.

Faith looked downright smug about this, nuzzling up more as she cooed practically in Judith’s ear, “What do you want to watch? John said we could order whatever we want tonight.”

Looking over at John it didn’t terribly look like the petulant man had agreed to those terms voluntarily. Good thing for him Judith literally could not give less of a shit what they watched, “Anything’s fine.”

It was like a bulb had lit up behind John’s face, instantly his mood turning around, “We’re watching Legally Blonde then!”

The exasperated look said this wasn’t the first time Faith had been dragged into watching Legally Blonde. Or the second. Or the third. Or the tenth. Or the twentieth.

“Can’t we watch literally anything else?” Faith practically begged, knowing she was unable to stop John from flicking over to the movie in his gallery and clicking on it.

“Can’t hear you, the movie’s starting,” was his only reply.

Judith snorted a little at that, earning her a light bat in the chest for her insolence.

“Don’t encourage him,” Faith chastised.

As the movie played it became easier and easier to pretend things were normal which was probably not the best thing for Judith’s psyche. John laughing loudly at jokes he’d obviously heard a million times on one side, Faith fairly disinterested in the movie but curled tightly against her side contently.

Somehow, how incredibly easy the two siblings had shaken off Judith killing their brother was the most jarring part of this.

Before her, had the man sat here, demanding some depressing wartime drama? Did he ever talk to his siblings? Was he distant, was that why they were doing anything but torturing her to death?

The inner workings of the Seed family were a giant question mark to Judith. Nothing about their actions made any sense.

Joseph was the most stable, somehow, if only because he’s predictable of the ones left alive. Generally nonviolent just going to preach at you about love while he has people gunned down in the streets

Faith’s actions were generally pretty much what you’d expect with a single minded obsession with Judith and a complete and total belief that given enough time she could turn the cop into a perfect little Peggie wife.

John… god, now that was one where she never knew what he was doing. He could suddenly whip out a knife and stab her to death on the couch and it wouldn’t be surprising. A violent and erratic man.

God, the idea of that was giving her heart palpitations. Nearly beating out of her chest.

It was amazing how badly Faith managed to interpret that as some sort of affection for her. Nuzzling up against Judith more and planting a kiss on her cheek. Ignoring the childish noise of disgust from John.

It was almost a mercy as the Seeds clearly started fading as they passed into the middle of the night. John’s head repeatedly beginning to drop, the jolt waking him up, falling back asleep, repeat. Faith beginning to doze off against her, breathing softly.

Judith hated that she sound the latter so comforting.

Eventually as the credits began to roll, John yawned cartoonishly as he stood up, “Well, I have a LOT to get done tomorrow. I’m going to sleep. You two do whatever you want, the house is yours.”

The implication of the last sentence was not lost on Judith, a weird permission to bang in his house. Creepy, fucking creepy, didn’t like that.

But as he unshackled her again that was her focus.

Mainly as he dropped the keys on the coffee table on instinct. Only two on the thin leather necklace, the one to her shackles and, much more importantly, his bunker key.

Faith also didn’t seem to mind her brother’s insinuation but in a different way, absolutely batting her eyes at Judith to get her attention squarely back on her, “We should get to bed too…”

“Uh, yeah…” Judith not having a great answer to the obvious flirting even as Faith tried to pull her down into a kiss.

Not that she didn’t relent though, being trapped in a tangle of limbs as Faith enthusiastically peppered the side of her face with kisses before hugging Judith tightly to her chest. The sound of her heartbeat thunderous in the newfound silence.

But thankfully Faith didn’t intend to get it on in John’s small theatre room. Sliding out from under Judith playfully, giving the smallest peek of until-now concealed white lingerie. Bouncing to the doorway, blowing a kiss with a wink, hooking her finger to follow her, before disappearing. No doubt to go back to the room.

The second Faith was out of sight, Judith pounced on the keys. Picking them up as quickly and quietly as she could, frantically stuffing them into her bra. Now she just had to get out of here, find John’s bunker, get Hudson, then they can…

They can leave Hope County.

It all clicked together in her mind, Hudson was the final piece now with Burke’s death. Whitehorse and Pratt were already back at the jail, they could just pack up and leave, come back with real help, get the backup they should have had at the start.

Judith could leave behind Faith. Make the Seed family someone else’s problem. Be free.

A smile crossed her face, staring blankly at the empty wall in front of her.

Gathering up the chains she eagerly burst out from the room, intending to hook a left and disappear into the darkness of night but she was stopped halfway there.

God damn it Faith hadn’t gone all the way. Clearly intending a playful chase all the way to the bedroom as she leaned on the doorway and gestured for Judith to follow her with one hand, the other playfully hitching up the long nightgown to reveal the white lace lingerie again.

Judith knew she couldn’t so much as look at the door or everything would be ruined.

Obediently, she followed.

All she had to do was deflect this from sex into some light cuddling, play sleepy and everything’ll be fine. Get out of Seed Ranch in the morning, into John’s bunker in the afternoon, get Hudson and they all leave.

She’ll never see Faith again outside of a courtroom, probably represented by her own brother.

Her plan started coming to pieces the second she stepped into the bedroom though.

Door slamming behind her loud in her ears as she took in the sight of Faith sprawled out perfectly, practicedly, on the bed. Gazing at her lovingly wearing the most comically see through underwear she could have found, too expensive looking for something you could get in a podunk place like Hope County.

Judith hated a lot of things about herself as of late but the fact that after all this the sight of Faith eyeing her seductively was still tempting was now pretty high on that list.

The key practically burning into the skin on her chest the only thing keeping her grounded.

It was her freedom and it’s all she could focus on, all she needed.

But that was proving trying as Faith crawled to the edge of the bed, grabbing at Judith’s borrowed shirt, pulling her closer, tilting her head, “You look so beautiful tonight.”

The sheer genuineness of the statement took Judith by surprise, not a compliment she was usually paid. Normally delegated to just “hot” or “sexy”. Her dumb brain just spat out “you do too” in response.

But that was enough for Faith, hands eagerly beginning to slide up Judith’s torso, “Then what are you waiting for?”

Judtih was waiting for an opportunity to leave, even if her body was trying to tell her otherwise.

But the scales tilted in Faith’s favor a second later.

The second Faith’s hand ran over the hidden keys confusion sparked on her face, sending a cold jolt down Judith’s spine. But Faith wasn’t granted time to really take in this odd hard place as Judith’s quick if stupid thinking saved her.

In one fluid motion she whipped off her shirt and bra, tossing them casually to the floor, before grabbing both of Faith’s shoulders and pushing her onto her back. The woman squealing loudly in delight as Judith pounced on her.

Deep down Judith knew it was wrong as she pinned the woman against the bed, knowing that if she really wanted to she could have just left. She had the key, she had her out. Freedom was within her grasp.

But instead she was here, biting at a giggling, simpering cultist’s neck.

The very woman whose brother she’d killed not a week earlier.

Judith knew it was wrong. She knew she shouldn’t do this. She knew even now she could just leave, that anything else was an excuse.

But she also knew that she wasn’t going to.

Judith knew she was just going to play into Faith’s hands again and again.

Said hands snaking into her hair, pulling it and her back a bit harshly, Faith’s grin almost wicked as she sang up at her, “I love you.”

Judith gave in to the unspoken demand to return this, replying back almost immediately, “I love you too.”

Content with her answer, Faith pulled her back down to consummate that statement of twisted love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Judith "I fucked myself into this mess and I'll fuck myself out" Redfox or, more realistically Judith "I fucked myself into this mess and I'll fuck myself deeper into it because it's all I know" Redfox.


	28. Going To Ground

Judith didn't open her eyes. Face burrowed deeply into the soft goose down, stolen pillow.

She'd been awake for a while but she didn't deserve to be.

If there were any justice left in the world, she would have slept forever. Passed quietly in her sleep. No longer a danger to herself out her loved ones, no longer a dimwitted pawn for Faith to manipulate.

But the world is cruel and eventually Judith will have to push herself up and face what she's done.

Pull off the bandaid, Judith.

Peeking open her eye she'd expected to see Faith too close, watching her sleep. Radiating that sick love at her, the love which she'd stupidly fucking confirmed back.

Why had she done it? Did she love Faith? Was it a reflex? But she'd come back so many times, why did she keep doing this to herself? To everyone else? Was she that desperate to have someone love her? How pathetic was she? But why Faith? She wasn't her only option. Not by a long shot. Hell, if she was a betting woman, she'd wager she could sleep with half of Hope County if she wanted to. Maybe more.

But one who'd made her into her little playtoy, a cute little stuffed fox to cuddle and call her own, was the worst goddamn woman in the valley.

And Judith kept letting out happen.

Last night stark evidence of that.

She tried not to think of it, one of her worst betrayals of herself to date. Not only giving in to the scantily clad cultist easily but going so far as to say she loved her too.

“Are you up?” Faith voice pierced the air.

Rolling over, Judith saw Faith standing there. Already dressed up for the day in that same damn white dress as always. A far cry from her own clothes which remained discarded in the corner.

“Technically I guess I am…” Judith mumbled, reaching for the clock, “What time is it?”

“Noon,” Faith replied, coquettish look plastered on her face, “We were up very late, weren't we?”

“Yeah, we, uh, sure were,” Judith had no good answer to that.

Well she did, she wanted to ask if she could leave, but she wasn't about to poke that bear. But it was too far beyond to go for the good answer.

“Why don’t you get dressed?”

A weird request considering Faith was usually in the business of getting Judith’s clothes off but honestly she wasn’t enjoying the power imbalance of being naked in bed while Faith loomed over her clothed.

Walking over she started picking up the pieces of her own outfit. Taking care not to accidentally drop the key still hiding in her pocket. Not that it could, buttoned in the pocket securely, but she was in a paranoid state of mind as of the last… god, however many months it had been.

How long had she even been in the valley? Judith didn’t have a good answer for that.

Full dressed, she turned to face Faith again, “Normally you’re trying to get me naked, why the change of focus?”

“Because you've got a big day ahead of you,” Faith sang, dropping to sit on the edge of the bed, “John's been out in Fall's End setting up for hours, wanted everything to be perfect for the rehearsal.”

A frigid, icy cold started at the top of Judith’s head and seeped down. Fall’s End. John.

All breathing stopped as Judith took that information in.

In a gasp it all came out, rushing at Faith with hatred burning in her eyes, threatening to consume her whole, “What did you do?! WHAT DID HE DO?!”

“Go to Fall’s End,” was her only response with that fucking smile, that goddamn serene smile that Judith had grown to hate.

“WHAT DID-” Judith’s interrogation was cut short, hands whipping out to grab Faith’s shoulders merely sailing through the woman. Green smoke swirling down through open hands and pooling at her feet.

Of course she wasn’t real, she never was. Even when she was here she was nothing but a smoke screen of lies and why, fucking WHY, did Judith keep believe them? Keep thinking something good would happen from this? Why? Why?!

By the time Judith was out, bursting through the front doors of Seed Ranch she was openly sobbing.

The smallest mercy came in the form of there being no guards waiting for her.

Just a ATV with the keys in the ignition.

\- - -

It was all a game to him, wasn't it? John had pulled out his dollhouse and happily placed everyone and everything where he’d wanted it. Judith left alone with only the means to get to him.

No weapons, of course, John wasn’t an idiot.

Judith had no idea what she was going to do when she got there.

Sneak up and snatch a weapon from one of his goons? They always had the worst guns but she supposed it would have to work. If not that she had nothing but her bare hands to fucking take out a small battalion.

She’d have no help. Tears stung her eyes as she cycled between the opportunities in her head while Holland Valley whipped past her.

Everyone could be captive. Everyone who hadn’t fought back could be captive, everyone who fought lying dead on the ground. Everyone…

Everyone could be dead.

Faith considered the scales balanced, Burke for Jacob, but Judith had a strong feeling that John didn’t feel the same. He wouldn’t be happy until each and every one of her loved ones was rotting in the ground. Her too, probably. Only tolerating her for as long as it would take for the shine to wear off. For Faith to get bored and discard her broken doll.

John always seemed like the kind to rip the heads off Barbies.

Coldly, Judith wondered if she was the first person Faith had tricked in this way.

Couldn’t think about that, just… just have to get to Fall’s End. Hope that whatever John did… at least… some of the people living there would be still alive.

Judith felt bile rise in the throat as the question crept into her mind, “They wouldn’t hurt a pregnant lady, would they?”

Fuck, stop, stop, think about something else. Almost there.

Rehearsal, Faith had called the fucking thing a rehearsal. For all the talk of weddings, Judith couldn’t help but feel like she was walking in to a funeral.

A long red carpet leading up into the church, through a flowery archway didn’t make her feel any better. Swinging herself off of it, only stopped from running inside by being struck by the image of dozen or so dead birds nailed along the front of the church.

Her heart was in her throat as she pushed open the door.

Instantly, a butt of a gun to the head dazed Judith. Knocking her to the ground.

For once, Judith almost would have embraced the warmth of unconsciousness but unfortunately she groggily lifted her head to see Nick and Pastor Jerome shirtless, Mary May restrained off to the side. A small group of armed Peggies pointing guns at them from every angle.

John walked backwards in an obnoxiously theatrical way, “And the blushing bride arrives!”

The meaning of that sailed over most heads in the room, save for three.

But John didn’t care, bringing his arms out wide before turning with a flair, “If you can’t bring Mohammed to the mountain bring the mountain to Mohammed. Let’s begin!”

He looked like a director on a stage play as he grabbed a copy of Joseph’s preachings from one of the goons around them. But Judith was to be a part of this show as she was roughly hauled to her feet by two more Peggies, dragged roughly towards her friends.

The look Pastor Jerome is giving her is knowing, piercing. While she doubted John had said a word about where Judith had been for the last twenty-four hours and what, or rather who, she’d been doing… he knew. Cosmically, he knew.

And, very reasonably considering the patch of his skin flayed off his body, he was pissed.

John wasn’t though, unrepentant as he kept the show going, “Thought a friendly face might make your atonement easier.

Judith flinched as John smacked the book into the open wound, smacking the bible out of Jerome’s hands to replace it. Grabbing him by the back of the neck and talking as if he was him, “Our devoted…”

“Our devoted…” Jerome reluctantly repeated.

John continued, “We are gathered here to bear witness...”

Scrunching up his face, Jerome couldn’t force the words out.

His punishment was a sharp pistol whip to the head, sending him to the ground. Mary May instantly retaliating to the same ends. Jerome scrambling to grab another of the fallen books before being pulled back up, John insisting that the show go on.

John laughed, gesturing like some grand joke had been told, “Why don’t we try that again?”

Again he harshly grabbed Jerome by the back of the neck and shoved him in the general direction of Nick.

“Our devoted. We are gathered here today to bear witness” John said again, sharper, faster.

Painfully forcing out the words, Jerome repeated, “Our devoted. We are gathered here today to bear witness…”

“To those willing to atone for their sins.”

“To those willing to atone for their sins...”

“Will you, Nick Rye, place your hand upon the word of Joseph?”

“Will you, Nick Rye, place y-” Jerome started.

“Aw, fuck that,” Nick spat, “I ain't ever givin’ into that psychopath.”

It was like the next minute of her life was muted. Judith’s mind going silent as she watched the scene from what felt like a million miles away. Nick facing off with John. Spitting in his face. John whispering something.

Nick’s defeated, “Yes, I will atone” cutting through the silence for just a second before it all cut out again.

The knife. Nick forced to the ground. John crouching over him.

Screaming. Judith couldn’t hear it but she knew there was screaming. Nick. Mary May. Jerome, perhaps.

John, the absolute fucking freak, holding the shredded, blood strip of flesh over his head like a kid at Christmas. Unaware or uncaring of the blood dripping down upon him. Yelling something that couldn’t cut through the haze before, for some god forsaken reason, stapling the morbid prize to the wall.

Only when John had cleaned up, finished his weird little ritual and faced Judith to finish hers. The one he’d started long ago, in three parts. Wrath on her chest. Pride down the right arm. Lust down the left.

In just a few minutes she’d be shredded to pieces and left to rot on the ground with Nick.

She was watching.

Judith couldn’t see her but she could tell.

Somewhere behind her. There were no signs, no visuals, no sounds, but somehow Judith knew if she could look behind her she’d see Faith goddamn Seed staring at her with that fucking goddamn hideous smile.

“Will you, Judith Redfox,” John said, revulsion creeping down her spine at this creep daring to say her full name, “Place your hand upon the Word of Joseph.”

“Will you, Judith Redfox, place your hand upon the Word of Joseph,” Jerome repeated, still giving her that ice cold glare into her very soul.

“And renounce your sins and transgressions.”

“And renounce your sins and transgressions.”

Long, slow, heavy panting was all Judith could do in return. Utterly incapped by what she’d just seen, still dazed by the blow to her head, hatred pinning her down like a butterfly under glass as she stared a wide-eyed, empty stare into John’s eyes.

“Say yes,” said the familiar voice behind her, bell-like tone out of place in this base, feral environment, “All you need to do is say yes.”

Shaking, rage quaking from every inch of her body Judith managed to jerk around, screaming to the back of the seemingly empty church, echoing loudly even in such a small space, “SHUT UP. SHUT THE FUCK UP.”

It was. No one was there. Not even the apparition of Faith.

Had the voice been real or had it been inside her head?

Only the sharp bang of a gun behind her made her turn back around, jerking her free from the Peggies who had been trying to do just that.

If only Jerome had hit his mark.

Everything was a blur, people yelling at her go get John, kill him, watch out, get to a plane, get to Nick’s.

But the weight in her chest pocket kept her on target.

While John wanted to goad her into an air fight she wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t going to get into the water with a crocodile. She wasn’t going to play his game, do her part in his little performance.

Judith had what she needed.

She had John’s bunker key.

Get Hudson.

Get out.

When she tore off in the opposite direction on her ATV she heard the voice again, crystal clear in her mind, “I’m very disappointed that you didn’t finish your atonement but there’s time. I’m so proud of you for not playing in John’s little schemes, I told him a million times not to try and fight you.”

In her head, it’s in her head. Faith is in her mind. No apparition, no tricks. She’s there.

“Get out of my head,” Judith hissed under her breath, “Get the FUCK out.”

“I’m not in your head,” she flatly replied, “I’ve simply had to adapt to your… active lifestyle. I can be in reflective surfaces, remember? Back when we first met?”

As if on cue, going over a rock on the ATV made the ring around her neck bounce free and into view. Glistening in the sun. Had she stopped to examine it she might have seen Faith in it like a gaudy crystal ball.

“Either way, leave,” Judith growled, “I don’t need you distracting me.”

“What are you doing?” she replied curiously, “I thought you were just trying to get away from the fighting.”

“None of your fucking business.”

Faith didn’t like that answer, seething back, “I’ll find out soon enough.”

Judith hoped that wherever Faith was, however she was seeing the world, that it would be too blurry for her to tell the destination until she was too far gone to be stopped.

\- - -

The second the ATV stopped Faith had manifested, waiting by the door to the bunker with a stern glare warning Judith not to do it.

She wasn’t about to listen to the ghost anymore.

Crashing through the bunker, Judith tore apart Peggie soldiers like they were nothing. Armed with nothing but a gun ripped off the first guy she tackled to the ground, put down with his own gun before she used it to kill dozens of his brethren.

But the bunker was like a labyrinth.

Everything built so similar, no maps, no guides, Judith twisted around again and again, being forced to check every floor to find Hudson.

Pratt had been at the bottom, screaming. Easier to find.

But Hudson…

Turning one of the millions of corners a orangey glow caught her eye. Heading towards it it looked like the workshop of Satan himself, a half cut up body dangling from a body. So the bodies hanging all over the valley were John’s little art projects, lovingly displayed by his siblings. Like putting a child’s drawings on the fridge.

“You should leave,” Faith said the millionth time, appearing to sit on the workbench. Disturbingly unperturbed by the corpse just to her right.

“You’re brother’s a fucking sick man,” Judith replied, pausing for only a second to point at the body, “How do you justify that, Faith? How do you justify that in your mind? What part of your goddamn religion is that?”

The look Faith gave the body was one of disdain, “We all have our vices-”

“Most of us have normal vices like I keep banging a fucking cult leader because apparently that makes me feel wanted or some shit,” Judith spat out, “I don’t fucking throw people’s guts around with streamers or carve out someone’s liver to play kickball.”

“You sure are good at carving out people’s hearts though,” Faith flickered, suddenly an inch from her face, “How could you say… all of that! What is wrong with you?! You- you said you loved me!”

“I say a lot of dumb shit,” Judith turned to walk away from her, “It’s kind of my thing.”

Judith expected hysterics, she expected screaming, she expected retaliation.

But Faith just stood there, shellshocked.

Who knows how long that staring contest would have gone if the sudden announcement of them not being alone hadn’t echoed down the hallways.

“Oh, deputy!!” John sang, a sharp edge of rage running along the side, “Got a call from my people that a certain someone doesn’t want to play her part, won’t even say yes to an honorable duel! Just wants to crawl around in the tunnels like the filthy little animal you are.”

She couldn’t see him, she could barely guess the direction he was coming from but Judith bolted in further. Hope that she was heading away from the source.

“Don’t hurt him,” Faith’s voice was small and defeated as she pleaded, “Please, whatever you do don’t kill John. Judith, please.”

Deep down Judith knew that that wasn’t really her choice, was it?

Especially as John’s voice got louder, knowing the area better than her, “I’ve always found fox hunts so neat in the old movies. If only I had a habit of keeping dogs like my dead brother! Imagine me, astride a horse, flanked by a battalion of foxhounds!”

Of course, a dead fucking end. With no other recourse, Judith crushed herself under a desk. Pressing tightly against the wall to check her-

Ammo. She had no more ammo.

But he knew she was here.

When he laid eyes on her, they widened with childlike glee. As if we’d won a game of hide and seek rather than cornered the woman he was most certainly going to stab to death. Knife glinting in the golden light of his macabre workshop.

“Oh look at you, playing the part of this game though, aren’t you? Gone to ground. That’s what they called it when a fox managed to escape the hounds to dive into its underground burrow. That never stopped the hunters though, did it? They’d just pull the beast out by its bushy little tail and-”

Whatever grim description of animal murder John had conjured up was cut off brutally short as a figure tackled him to the ground from behind. Slamming him to filthy floor and sending his own knife skittering across the floor.

Still lurking in the corner, Faith’s anguished scream cut the air, “JOHN!”

The struggle was short, John managing to do little more than twist around to try to fend off his attacker with an indignant “GET OFF ME” before the makeshift shiv stabbed in deep, right between the ribs, into his heart. Then pulled out to stabbed into his again and again, overkill, blood splattering the front of the woman’s green uniform as she screamed along with the apparition of Faith.

One woman screaming in agony, the other screaming in victory.

Hudson didn’t stop stabbing. Knife going into the man’s lifeless torso over and over.

Unable to move, Judith just stayed crammed into her pisspoor hiding spot. Completely visible as she watched the carnage in front of her, serenaded by Faith’s unceasing screams. Now kneeling in the blood, seeping through her intangible form as she reached out as if she could save him.

But she wasn’t real. She wasn’t here.

Judith wondered if it was a mercy to the woman when Hudson accidentally poofed her, jerking up as she realized she wasn’t alone.

“Judith,” she gasped out, dropping the knife to crawl towards her, “It’s you, oh god, oh my god, it’s fucking you. I didn’t… I didn’t think you’d ever come for me. I thought I was going to be down here forever.”

Hudson collapsed on top of Judith in a tight embrace, trembling as she sobbed violently into her shoulder. Gripping her tightly like she was afraid she’d disappear again, leave her alone to rot in the bowels of John’s bunker next to the corpse of her captor.

Judith had left her body behind long ago though, only having the vaguest concept of what was going on around her.

‘Two down, two to go,’ was all her mind was saying over and over.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is gonna be sooo long but it feels nice to be getting a new fic started at long last! I keep telling myself I'm not going to do fics that run alongside canon yet here I am. Please excuse any small deviances from canon, some are intentional, some just come from working off memory.


End file.
